MoneySign Suede, a 22-year-old rapper from the United States, was murdered in prison

MoneySign Suede, a fast-rising Mexican-American singer with tens of millions of listens for his rousing rap music, was slain at the age of 22 in a California jail attack.

The rapper, real name Jaime Brugada Valdez, died on Tuesday evening "with injuries consistent with homicide," according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was being housed at a Soledad prison, where he has been serving a 32-month sentence on firearms charges since January.

According to Nicholas Rosenberg, a lawyer representing Valdez, officials confirmed Valdez had been stabbed and that an investigation was underway. "People are very shocked," Rosenberg added. "He was a very popular, mild-mannered guy." "Everyone adored him."

Valdez was born in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents and reared in the Huntington Park neighbourhood. From the age of 16, he began recording and uploading rap recordings, and he was signed to Atlantic Records while still in his teens. Back to the Bag, his breakout single, became a rap scene hit after its release in 2020. He had a busy year of releases in 2022, beginning with a self-titled EP in March and ending with his debut LP Parkside Baby in September.

Valdez's prison sentence for two counts of handgun possession in Riverside County, California, was aggravated by him violating parole from a previous conviction, when he completed a 10-month sentence between 2020 and 2021. He was also facing another firearms charge conviction from Los Angeles County at the time of his death, and was scheduled to serve that term concurrently.

Rap journalist Jeff Weiss praised Valdez, calling him "a young regional hero embodying the hopes and aspirations of the unsung and overlooked."