A prominent hip-hop artist in Sweden has been killed in a suspected gang-related shootout in Göteborg, according to Swedish police.
C. Gambino, real name Karar Ramadan, was shot in a car park on Tuesday evening, police said. A murder investigation has been launched.
The murder appears to be linked to a gang dispute, police said, revealing that Gambino, who was also called 'The Masked Rapper,' was known to the police.
Images from the scene show the impact of several bullets on a glass door at the car park where the incident occurred.
Gambino, 26, had released his latest track, 'Sista Gang,' ('Last time' in Swedish) on 31 May, garnering 700,000 hits on Spotify. His music is estimated to receive about a million hits monthly on the platform.
Swedish rap expert Petter Hallen termed Gambino “one of the giants of Swedish hip-hop.” His death is a big blow to the rap scene in both Göteborg and the rest of Sweden, he said. According to Hallen, Gambino had recently distanced himself from the criminal world to focus more on expressing feelings and relationships in his music.
His demise follows that of another famous Swedish rapper, Einar, who was shot dead in a gang dispute in October 2021.
Sweden has struggled for years with escalating conflicts between criminal gangs, marked by frequent shootings and explosions.
Originally associated with drug-trafficking disputes, this violence has expanded into personal rivalries.
