The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Spartaz ^Humbug! 08:21, 27 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Smoke Dawg[edit]

Smoke Dawg (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)

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Fails WP:BASIC, WP:ANYBIO, WP:MUSICBIO, and WP:VICTIM. Both before and after his death, there was trivial coverage of his musical career. This biography does not meet WP:MUSICBIO criteria, including #4 ("has received non-trivial coverage in independent reliable sources of an international concert tour"), because the concert tour Smoke Dawg participated in was not his, it was Drake's (and Smoke Dawg isn't even mentioned on the Drake Wikipedia article). This was indeed a tragedy, but Wikipedia is not a memorial, and this biography does not meet Wikipedia's notability criteria. Magnolia677 (talk) 21:12, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Bands and musicians-related deletion discussions. Hhkohh (talk) 23:59, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Music-related deletion discussions. Hhkohh (talk) 23:59, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Ontario-related deletion discussions. Hhkohh (talk) 23:59, 4 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Keep: Rapper had notable recordings, many collaborations as well as a great following. This is also indicated in 45,000 visits to this page first day and 25,000 the second day. Repurcussions of the murder are also spreading as we speak with active search for the perpetrator(s). werldwayd (talk) 03:28, 5 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep. He collaborated with two prominent hip hop artists (French Montana and Skepta), in addition to his association with Drake, and his music has been covered by MTV News, Noisey, Complex, The Fader, etc. Blackjays1 (talk) 00:40, 8 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Blackjays1: I have not been able to locate any sources which support a "collaboration" of any significance with French Montana, Skepta, or with Drake (except for playing one song on Drake's concert tour) . Also, how would this contribute to notability, per Wikipedia:Notability (music)? Could you please list your sources to support these collaborations? Also, you wrote that this person "has been covered by MTV News, Noisey, Complex, The Fader, etc." Again, could you please list each of these sources (excluding obituaries), as they would support notability. Thank you. Magnolia677 (talk) 22:12, 8 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Here are the sources that confirm his two collaborations [1] [2] and here are the other four sources [3] [4] [5] [6]. Blackjays1 (talk) 04:15, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for providing these links. I have carefully examined each and they do not contribute to notability, or to collaborations with more notable artists that were of any significance. Again, this article was nominated for deletion because it fails WP:BASIC, WP:ANYBIO, WP:MUSICBIO, and WP:VICTIM.

• The first source from Complex, is a two sentence-long announcement that Smoke Dawg would be receiving "a huge assist from French Montana" on the the official remix of "Trap House". The Smoke Dawg/French Montana remix never charted, and is by Wikipedia standards non-notable. Smoke Dawg is not mentioned once at French Montana discography.
• The second source from Fact, is a three sentence-long announcement that Skepta would be "guesting on a track with Toronto MC Smoke Dawg to create the song 'Overseas'". The song never charted, and is by Wikipedia standards non-notable. Neither the song "Oversears" nor Smoke Dawg are mentioned at Skepta discography.
• The third source from Complex, is a six sentence-long article with trivial biographical details about Smoke Dawg, and an announcement that Smoke Dawg recently released "Fountain Freestyle", a non-notable song.
• The fourth source from MTV News, is an article about Toronto's rap scene. The article makes trivial mention of Smoke Dawg, stating only that he was a member of the non-notable group Halal Gang, and that he "is Jamaican".
• The fifth source from The Fader, is another announcement about Skepta's non-notable song "Overseas". This article makes trivial mention of Smoke Dawg.
• The sixth source from Noisey, is a seven minute-long video interview with Smoke Dawg. Please note that primary sources like this "do not contribute toward proving the notability of a subject", per WP:BASIC. Magnolia677 (talk) 10:12, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Leaning toward keep. Agree that it doesn't meet WP:MUSICBIO or WP:VICTIM alone, but "multiple independent sources may be combined to demonstrate notability" for WP:BASIC, and I'd say the non-music-industry (local) press coverage of the shooting tips the scale to "multiple independent". DavidLeeLambert (talk) 13:16, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@DavidLeeLambert: Wikipedia is not a newspaper and does not report standard news items. Why does typical press coverage of an event--which otherwise would have had no connection with this person had he not been one of two victims--contribute to this person's notability? Magnolia677 (talk) 13:35, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete. Collaborating with more notable musicians is not in and of itself an WP:NMUSIC pass, and the sources being shown to support that are glancing namechecks of his existence in coverage of those other people rather than substantive coverage about him — so they don't establish that he passes WP:GNG in lieu. The only serious grounds for considering him notable here is the death coverage itself — but if he didn't properly establish any NMUSIC notability in life, then the burst of death coverage just makes him a WP:BIO1E. Bearcat (talk) 17:02, 11 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete - per @Bearcat:. Nice4What (talk) 07:29, 12 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Keep: Notable rapper, and his murder is getting a lot of publicity globally. Inexpiable (talk) 15:32, 13 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What did he achieve in life that passes WP:NMUSIC to make him a "notable rapper"? Bearcat (talk) 16:40, 14 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete Bearcat is right, subject is only notable for his death. Another BIO1E case. Edwardx (talk) 21:17, 15 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete. Doesn't pass WP:NMUSIC. No charted songs, and no critical attention on any of his releases. The artist doesn't WP:INHERIT any notability from his more successful collaborators. — Newslinger talk 08:35, 20 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete: The guy just doesn't have "significant coverage" in multiple reliable sources, and that's the bottom line. Don't know why the GNG has to be left behind with this WP:OOHLOOKSOURCEZ!!! garbage. Nha Trang ^Allons! 16:14, 20 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.