Young Dolph’s son, Tre Tre Thornton, is paying tribute to his late father with a clothing line named after him. The collection, titled “King of Memphis” after the rapper’s nickname, features T-shirts with details capturing Young Dolph.
According to Hiphopdx, the collection’s pre-sale sold out completely last weekend, which would have been his late father’s 38th birthday. His mother and the late rapper’s fiance, Mia Jaye, revealed that the collection helped her son cope with the loss of his father.
“When I say I’m so proud of my son, I truly mean it… I’m actually proud of both of my children and how they have been growing through their hurt, pain, and grief… The journey hasn’t been peaches and cream… and we have actually had some rough times, especially with Tre being a young boy losing his hero,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
“Being inspired to create artwork to help express his most inner feelings instead of leaning into anger and inappropriate behavior (which would be rightfully justified due to the adversity/ hurt he has faced at such a young age) is a major life accomplishment, which I am so proud of as his mother and biggest cheerleader,” she shared.
The 9-year-old was seen posing with the products and was recorded while preparing orders for shipping. Aria, his 6-year-old sister, already designed her collection which included her artwork as well as a poem she wrote with her mother called “Children Deserve Their Fathers.”
Jaye herself founded ‘Black Men Deserve To Grow Old,’ a service and merchandise company, even before her fiance died. It focuses on the intercommunal and state violence experienced by Black men. She was inspired to launch the endeavor when her older brother, Jeremy Jerdine, was killed in a shooting in 2020.
According to The Guardian in 2021, 36-year-old Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. aka Young Dolph, an independent rap star, was shot in his hometown of Memphis while buying cookies at Makeda’s Butter Cookies. Two men, Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith, were charged with the rapper’s murder and are now awaiting trial.
