What up what up.
Back again with another lit vid. It’s been hot lately when it comes to rappers. Von shot and killed, MO3 shot and killed (RIP to em both), Boosie shot https://youtu.be/qpr5RctTT-Y (0:00-0:14), Benny The Butcher Shot, Casanova hit with the RICO https://youtu.be/muCr2100gMI, G Herbo hit with fraud, and that’s just the big time artists. 2020 ending bad for rappers man. We’ve been digging into a lot of some of these situations, but today we’re going to be checking out the life of the man involved in Von’s death, Quando Rondo. Truth is, he been buzzin’, but many people ain’t fucks with him that heavy or know his background until the incident with Von and now he’s got the spotlight. So if you don’t who Quando is, his story, and how his life led to Von’s death, then I got you. Let’s get it!
Insider Hotspot Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRomM7ZedDRRo8bPBG8XuFA/videos
https://youtu.be/QzEG0eAcDM8 (2:46-2:58)
https://youtu.be/_JOKgHVhCYg (6:32-6:44)
https://youtu.be/_JOKgHVhCYg (6:50-7:05)
To be honest, I never really peeped dude’s music on that deep a level, but when shit popped off with him a Von, and the hate train came his way and he dropped the song “End of Story” in retaliation (we’ll talk on this later) I listened it, and can’t lie, the melodies and energy on the track made me listen his catalog, and I realized, dude actually talented. Quando seemed to always have that creativity and originality in music. As a kid he would be singing in the hallway and even then spoke stardom into his existence https://youtu.be/_JOKgHVhCYg (1:04-1:25). But life would have a lot of hurdles and pitfalls before he could attain that height. While many kids had a chance at a functioning family and honest chance at a good life, Quando had it rough from the get go. At 2 years old, child services took him away from his biological parents and he was adopted by his great aunt after he got burnt in an altercation between his mom and pops https://youtu.be/SZD1Uo0sXbI (2:55-3:45). That really set the tone for what would become his life.
Detached from his mom and dad and living with his great aunt, it came with its own set of issues. He became getting closer to the environment in his city, Savannah, Gorgia. With his father going to jail when he was only 3 years old https://youtu.be/DeuyZRfWeyA (0:10-0:27) and mother becoming an addict https://youtu.be/p28j8gK81mQ (2:00-2:05) Quando slipped further into the bad path after a fight between him and his cousin resulted in his great aunty calling the cops on him https://youtu.be/DeuyZRfWeyA (1:32-2:15). That became the first escalated encounter with the law and would begin the cycle that sent him to and from Juvenile detention between the ages of 11 and 16. Between that time, getting locked up was all Quando knew, from battery, to theft, to a bunch of other offenses, Quando was drifting further and further away from a normal life, to that of the street https://youtu.be/DeuyZRfWeyA (2:55-5:43). Keep in mind all these first offenses happened just between the ages of 11-13. Quando was speeding, and speeding fast. Didn’t take long for the reality of that life started haunting Quando, losing his close friend Quahfee to gun violence https://youtu.be/btrRP8TrUsI (0:58-1:35) while he was still locked up.
https://www.savannahnow.com/article/20160203/NEWS/302039664
Still, the full extent of the life he lived didn’t sink in and in Tay-K fashion, Quando did the race once he was back out. Cut the leg monitor off and was on the run, until the life on the run started taking its toll and he decided to crash for a night by his great aunty, and guess what…she called the cops on lil bro again https://youtu.be/DeuyZRfWeyA (5:40-6:15). Quando’s criminal activity began escalating the more he went in and out of Juvenile detention, leading up to burglary, which led to him owning his gun after becoming free again https://youtu.be/dhOaveAVU2w (3:37-4:00). By this time lil niggaz started getting killed and the streets became more treacherous, so in turn, so did Quando.
As his rap sheet started piling higher, Quando started to compare himself to his peers, realizing that most his life was spent in and out the pen while his friends we leveling up https://youtu.be/E8mnQcF0nHI (3:08-4:16). Quando’s life was spiraling out of control, and maturity stepped in to save him from where he was headed. Tired of wasting his life away, Qunado began focusing on music https://youtu.be/HWDtbMp2QtU (1:22-1:50) He released First Day Out https://youtu.be/pEVPa4zZIfo and it sparked a buzz around his name. Quando was no stranger to music by then. He’s been writing in the later end of his incarceration and began uploading vids to Instagram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEVxZuRLLjc
Quando started getting his shit together, and the more he pushed music, the more recognition he got. Big players in the industry started blowing up his phone. From Young Money Honcho, Baby, The Game, and even YoungBoy NBA. Quando would eventually sign to YB https://youtu.be/_JOKgHVhCYg (7:00-7:06) and became an official NBA affiliate, cementing their bond even tighter https://youtu.be/l7HJO0_uH8c (6:00-6:44). Quando finally on the rise, even getting a feature from popular rapper Lil Baby on his song “I Remember” https://youtu.be/NOPZjQ6rmRc To date, the song has surpassed 76M streams on YouTube alone along with countless others in the millions. Capitalizing on his fame, Quando kept the momentum, feeding the streets with a number of projects between 2018 and 2019 featuring artists like 2 Chainz, A Boogie With Da Hoodie, and even Lil Durk who would become sworn enemies, but we’ll address that later. Life B4 Fame, Life After Fame, and From The Neighborhood To The Stage, all took the Savannah rapper closer to fame.
This was it, his time and he was living that shit. But drama seemed tied to Quando. Never being one to back down, he started getting into beefs, not being able to leave that life behind. Him and rapper NLE Chopper got into an altercation https://youtu.be/xTFphrV_l7E that left one of NLE’s home boy’s head cracked by a bottle thrown by Quando https://youtu.be/tCdxh-QEIQg (0:21-1:12). After that it just started back piling up, getting into a confrontation in California with Hoover bangers https://youtu.be/rVSa2tjo3Gg Once the ball started rolling, Quando’s hood ways kept dragging him back into the negative spotlight. Fighting with his own security https://youtu.be/BKHmmRzx_-M Jumping off stages to brawl in the audience https://youtu.be/_OzzQhBOTjk (0:00-0:25) Shows getting shot up https://youtu.be/TteJ8WvTe7k (0:02-0:58) and even beating down opps in the mall https://youtu.be/6Mzytig3jYs https://youtu.be/CtkRunaFDmo (0:14-0:30) which led him and three partners to come under scrutiny by the law which got him arrested
https://youtu.be/DiO9u2M1mh4 (1:33-2:00).
Again the law was on Quando’s back, but that wasn’t stopping bro’s shine. Dropping two more projects QPac and then Diary of a Lost Child,
Quando’s buzz felt slipping from the numbers his previous projects we racking up. Maybe it’s because he made it big time and the hunger in his music wasn’t as potent https://youtu.be/0IZuw-ba7Vs 2:40-3:06. While Quando was figuring out his career, the beefs continued to stack, and this time with a close friend of King Von while beef between Von and YB started catching fire. The Chiraq Grim Reaper, Lil Reese, got on Qunado’s ass, tweeting
This prompted Quando to send back a response of his own https://youtu.be/hirAS0LoBg0 (0:55-1:10). Now once that started, combined with beef between NBA and Von, Quando became at odds with all them niggaz from O Block that rocked with each other, Durk, Reese, Von, 600Breezy. The music started being overshadowed by the streets but Quando was never one to run or shy away from anyone or anything https://youtu.be/muT2rq6IBTk (6:24-6:40) Eventually, him and Von would cross paths outside an Atlanta club https://youtu.be/1z5vlAXxmL0
And things spiraled out of control, leaving Von shot up by Quando’s homie Timothy Leeks aka Lul Timm
What looked like Quando’s way out from the street life, turned into what would place his life in even greater danger. Now, word on the street is that Durk n’ em got a 1M bag on his head, but Quando isn’t backing down, releasing the single “End of Story” in retaliation for the hate and threats, supporting his mans and clowning Von’s death https://youtu.be/AoB8koE95C0
The track is more than just bars at everyone in his way and those trying to get revenge for Von, but it’s a direct connection to King Von’s end. Remember Von got big off of his story telling skills on tracks Crazy Story Pt1, 2, & 3? Well Quando is putting the nail in the coffin, playing on Von’s titles that brought his come up, laying the story to rest. Quando has since been getting constant heat by people wanting him dead. A diss track from Durk surface online where the rapper seemed to suggest they on Quando’s ass looking for him https://youtu.be/VXz-g46QUQM and Quando has been unable to do shows because they keep being cancelled out of fear of retaliation. Whether it’s by him or the promoters, it’s a tossup, but one thing for sure, he’s losing bank with every show that gets canceled. Quando’s back is against the wall and is being forced to go back to old ways, and he’s ready and willing to die for his https://youtu.be/WmkGPDv5WDY
The young kid, caught up in the street life https://youtu.be/ezFFhaMuCPg (4:00-4:17), still has hopes of bringing positive change to the youth https://youtu.be/DtOVombwpvc (3:05-3:20). Time alone will tell if he lives to accomplish it, becomes a statistic to the streets, or becomes a legend that built his legacy from the dirt https://youtu.be/QzEG0eAcDM8 (7:18).
Insider Hotspot Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRomM7ZedDRRo8bPBG8XuFA/videos
Chad is a professional journalist specializing in Hip-Hop culture and writing music reviews.
