| Stretch | |
|---|---|
 Stretch in 1993 | |
|
Birth name |
Randy Walker |
|
Born |
8 April 1968
|
|
Died |
30 November 1995 (aged 27) |
|
Occupations |
|
|
Associated acts |
2Pac, Digital Underground, Dramacydal, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Thug Life |
Randy Walker (8 April 1968 - 30 November 1995), better known by his stage name Stretch, was an American rapper and producer. He was known for his unmistakably deep voice.
Early life
Randy Walker was born to Lucilda Walker and an unknown father. He had two brothers and two sisters. His father died in 1981. Lucilda Walker worked as a nursing attendant at New York University Medical Center.[1]
Career
Stretch was a rapper and hip hop producer from Springfield Gardens, Queens, New York who founded the hip hop group Live Squad with his brother Majesty in the late 1980s. In 1990, he met Digital Underground leader Shock G and, through Shock, D.U. member Tupac Shakur. Stretch was close friends with Yo! MTV Raps host Ed Lover, who helped Live Squad get signed to Tommy Boy. He made brief cameo appearances in several films, such as Juice, Who's the Man? and Bullet, and contributed to the soundtrack for the film Above the Rim. He is best known for his affiliation with Tupac Shakur during the early 1990s. He was with Shakur during the Quad Studio shooting in November 1994, when Shakur was robbed and seriously wounded. During Shakur's jail stint in 1995, the two fell out and no longer collaborated.
Death
On 30 November 1995, Stretch was killed driving his green minivan at 112th Ave. and 209th St. in Queens Village. He was shot in the back four times by three men who pulled up alongside his vehicle. His minivan crashed into a tree and hit a parked car before flipping over. Stretch was killed exactly one year (almost to the minute) after Shakur's Quad Studio shooting, and many people believe that Stretch was killed as a form of retaliation. The murder remains unsolved.
Nas revealed in the song "A Queens Story" from the 2012 album Life Is Good that he was in Stretch's van the night he was killed.[2] However, he dropped Nas off at his destination and Stretch drove off alone.