Rapper-Influencer Brax Dead At 21

The world has lost yet another young artist.

Rapper and influencer Brax has passed away at the tragically young age of 21. Her passing was announced on Thursday by her mother, author and gospel radio personality Letricia Loftin Russell, who took to Instagram to share the sad news with friends and fans.

Although Letricia didn’t specify the cause of her daughter’s death, she revealed that the budding starlet (real name Braxton Baker) had been working on multiple albums and novels at the time of her tragic death. Alongside a heartbreaking video montage of Brax, Letricia wrote:

“Our angel, Braxton Blue.B Baker has ascended. At the time of her ascendance she laid in sacred form. There were no scratches there were no bruises, her internal and external being was completely pure. It was a spiritual release. God retrieved the angel He loaned us… Braxton was in spiritual retreat, carefully crafting and curating her art. She has since dedicated her art to humanity and healing, composing two albums and three novels. Most recently she was in the process of forming her brand merging her loves for fashion, and the work of Black queer revolutionary womxn.”

Russell went on to share that her daughter felt she had a larger mission to fulfill with her art, writing:

“Braxton knew that God was working through her, she had ‘vessel’ and ‘gifted’ permanently placed on her body. She knew that her brilliance and art would be shared with the world in God’s timing. This is just the beginning, our whole beings are dedicated to sharing her sacred art with the world. Braxton emphasized, ‘I’m just delivering God’s message, I’m here and it’s all beyond me. My purpose is way way far greater than me.'”

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A post shared by @dykebrax on Mar 21, 2019 at 6:25pm PDT

Brax started to gain notoriety in 2017 for her debut mixtape, VERSA(atility). She spoke more about her higher purpose in a 2018 interview with Svage, telling the glossy:

“My role is to create art straight from my heart. For I know that art will be pure, poetic, powerful and healing. All I want to do is help the world heal. That’s when things will begin to shift… I have been using my creativity to build a unique brand for years. I’ve been directing my own shoots, directing my own videos, styling myself, writing poetry, writing articles, writing raps, choreographing dances, styling myself and styling others like it was nothing for years. So, I guess that’s how I’ve been making it work for me.”

What a visionary. It sounds like she had so much more to give the world, which makes her death all the more devastating.

Read the full tribute (below):

View this post on Instagram

Our angel, Braxton Blue.B Baker has ascended. At the time of her ascendance she laid in sacred form. There were no scratches there were no bruises, her internal and external being was completely pure. It was a spiritual release. God retrieved the angel He loaned us. Braxton was in spiritual retreat, carefully crafting and curating her art. She has since dedicated her art to humanity and healing, composing two albums and three novels. Most recently she was in the process of forming her brand merging her loves for fashion, and the work of Black queer revolutionary womxn. Braxton knew that God was working through her, she had “vessel” and “gifted” permanently placed on her body. She knew that her brilliance and art would be shared with the world in God’s timing. This is just the beginning, our whole beings are dedicated to sharing her sacred art with the world. Braxton emphasized, “I’m just delivering God’s message, I’m here and it’s all beyond me. My purpose is way way far greater than me.” ***We do not own the rights to this music*** but the art that is coming is a gift to the world.

A post shared by Letricia Loftin Russell (@letricia.loftin) on Nov 5, 2020 at 8:37am PST