Drakeo The Ruler Security Guard Says YG Was Holding a Knife During Fatal Festival Brawl

Five years after Drakeo The Ruler was stabbed to death at the Once Upon a Time in L.A. Festival, a security guard from his team says YG was present in the backstage fight holding what looked like a knife.

According to deposition excerpts obtained by the Los Angeles Times on July 24, Alrick Cooper III, who was working security for Drakeo that night, testified in a May deposition that YG was “front and center” during the altercation and appeared to be carrying an improvised weapon. Cooper said he identified YG by his hazel eyes even though the rapper was wearing a ski mask.

The deposition was part of a June court filing tied to Drakeo’s family’s wrongful death lawsuit.

The filing arrives just as YG was detained and one of his Burbank, Calif. properties was searched on July 24 in connection with the investigation into Drakeo’s killing. YG has denied involvement and has not been charged in the case.

He has also addressed the allegations directly on the recent song “We Know the Truth.” “They say I murdered this, they say I murdered that/Well, if that was true, you’d be a f**king rat,” he raps. “And I’d be in the cell sleeping on a rack/But too bad that ain’t a f**king fact.”

Later in the song, YG turns to the night itself: “I came to get the dough, was finna hit the stage/Then I heard how y’all heard, somebody got hit with a blade,” he says. “I heard ni**as saying, ‘YG paid’/Stop lying, ni**a, come run YG fade.”

XXL has reached out to YG’s team for comment.