Troy Edwards

A motorist slain late Sunday while driving on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge was a local rapper who in 2021 survived being shot 11 times. Troy Edwards, who rapped under the moniker Mudd Bughatti, was driving an SUV on the bridge around 10 p.m. when someone in another car opened fire, police said. The 35-year-old Belleville man died at the scene of the shooting. The rapper had several songs with more than 100,000 views on YouTube. His most popular song, “50,” was released four years ago and has more than a million plays and another 750,000 streams on Spotify. Edwards’ top post on Instagram was a video of inmates who had broken windows and set fires at the city’s downtown jail in protest of conditions at the jail nearly three years ago, gathered at broken windows in the facility and rapping “50.” Part of Edwards’ caption on the video read: “I GIVE THE STREETS HOPE.” The video for that song, “Super Blood #11SHOTS,” opens up with scenes of local news footage of that shooting. He also reenacted the incident, including a hospital scene in which doctors remove bullets from his body. “They tried to take my life, but I’m still here,” he raps. “I damn near died, I took super slugs.” St. Clair County resident Dwayne Wiley said in an interview with the Post-Dispatch on Monday that Edwards was good friends with Wiley’s late brother, Deontri Wiley, who was killed in 2017. A few years after that, Edwards visited his mom on Mother’s Day and “showered her with gifts” including flowers and high-end jewelry. “That was very thoughtful of him,” Wiley said, adding that Edwards visited several of his late friends’ moms that year. “That was actually my first time meeting him. He contacted me just telling me who he was and what he was trying to do; I said, ‘That’s awesome.’ I gave him the address, and he pulled up.” Edwards was known throughout the Metro East and gave back to the community, local radio personality DJ Shay Money told the Post-Dispatch. She would not provide her full name, but she said she interacted with Edwards several times at events, radio stations and concerts. “He was a super positive dude,” she said. “He had great vibes. He was always happy, always smiling and super respectful. A great dude. He was a proud girl dad, and his daughters loved him dearly.” She said news of Edwards’ shooting death surprised her because he had been living a less public life since being shot two years ago. “Any time I would see him post (on social media), it would be more family-related,” she said. “He wasn’t out there as much. I haven’t really seen him do a big show or anything. I suppose he was taking the time to get himself back right because being shot 11 times is huge. I’m sure there was a lot of recovery.” Hundreds of people posted about the rapper’s death on Facebook and Instagram, sometimes referring to him by the nickname “Boonie.” Many speculated that his success put a target on his back. “I think he was too big for this area,” Wiley said. “You try to do things in your community, but you’ve got all this jealousy and envy.” Attempts to reach Edwards’ family were unsuccessful.