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Fredo Santana's cause of death has been reported a day after the Chicago-born rapper died at the age of 27.
The Trapping Ain't Dead star passed away at his Los Angeles home on Friday night and was reportedly found by his girlfriend - thought to be the mother of his baby son Legend - lifeless on the floor.
According to TMZ, Fredo suffered a massive seizure and was dead when his girlfriend discovered him at around 11.30pm, as family members told the site.
No official cause of death has yet been confirmed, and there has been no public statement from LA police or the LA Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
(Image: Instagram)
His death came weeks after Fredo - real name Derrick Coleman - was rushed to hospital with kidney and liver failure in October 2017, prompting him to tell fans he wanted to "slow down" and stop "getting high" as a way to face his demons.
He revealed from his hospital bed that he was thinking of going to rehab for treatment, which many fans believed was a reference to his cough syrup addiction.
Fredo was a user of sizzurp, also known as lean and purple drank, which is a prescription-strength concoction of codeine and promethazine that together make the user feel dazed and high.
In high dosage, it is linked to liver failure and seizure.
(Image: Instagram)
(Image: Instagram)
"Been in here since Friday doctor say a n***a had kidney failure an liver failure," he'd told Instagram followers after his terrifying hospital dash last October.
As a result, he said, a highly anticipated collaboration with his younger cousin Chief Keef - called Turbo Bandana - would be delayed.
"Thanks for everyone who prayed for a n***a I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy," he added.
The rapper continued: "Hopefully I can be the face to sho n***as to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us f*k being rock stars gettin high I got ptsd.
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
"I was running from my old life tryna get high didn't want to face them demons...I'm getting help I might just go to rehab."
Fredo welcomed his first child, baby son Legend, last June, but days after his birth was posting Instagram pictures of cough syrup - prompting worried fans to tell him he had other things to focus on.
"Now u got a baby man.... get clean and be a responsible parent," one wrote on his Instagram.
"Leave that drank alone brah," said another.
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
And a third told him: "Fredo. are you still sippin lean?i'm really worry about health."
Three months before that, in March 2017, Fredo was rushed to hospital with a seizure.
He blamed it on his heavy workload and lack of sleep, although many fans were sceptical about the true cause of his health problem.
"When u working hard no sleep u get sleep deprived an have a light seizure," Fredo had captioned a picture of him in hospital at the time.
(Image: Instagram)
(Image: Instagram)
The rapper had made no secret of his lean consumption, frequently posting pictures of cough syrup in the background of house parties or holding a tell-tale double polystyrene cup in social media snaps.
Fredo even promoted his record label Savage Squad Record's own range of polystyrene cup, branded with their logo. On the label's website, the $20 cups are pictured filled to the brim with a purple liquid.
Lean - which was also blamed for multiple seizures suffered by Lil Wayne in 2016 - is not illegal, although the withdrawal effects can be grim when it's been consumed in high volume over a long period of time.
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The late Fredo Santana used drugs before his tragic death because he was trying to escape his violent past, his close friend has claimed.
Rapper Vic Mensa, who knew Fredo well, paid tribute to him the day after he died following what's reported to be a massive seizure on Friday night.
Fredo, real name Derrick Coleman, was just 27 when he was found dead on the floor of his Los Angeles home at 11.30pm by his girlfriend.
He left behind an eight-month-old son named Legend.
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
(Image: Instagram)
And Vic believes it was Fredo's background that led to him picking up the drugs which may have contributed to his death.
Paying tribute to his friend on Instagram, Vic wrote: "Rest In Peace to a real chicago legend.
"It's tragic that he's gone before he really got to blossom into the man he could be. Kicking it with him about a year ago I could really tell that his mentality had grown and he was far more progressive than the world really knew."
He went on: "Fredo was the spirit of the drill movement, & the chicago streets he embodied. Near the end of his life he made some statements that I think we all can REALLY LISTEN to and learn from.
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
(Image: WireImage)
"He spoke about his drug use and trying to escape the PTSD he had from growing up in the hood, surrounded by violence. I call it post traumatic streets disorder."
Vic added: "We need to evaluate the conditions in our communities that raise young black men with more psychological issues than they can ever really unpack. we have to diagnose the system, not the symptoms. rest up to a real rockstar. 27."
Fredo himself had spoken of his PTSD after being hospitalised with liver and kidney failure just weeks before he died.
He'd been rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, and later said it was time to "slow down" and get help for his demons.
(Image: Instagram)
(Image: Instagram)
"Hopefully I can be the face to sho n***as to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us f*k being rock stars gettin high I got ptsd," he wrote in October.
"I was running from my old life tryna get high didn't want to face them demons...I'm getting help I might just go to rehab."
Fredo was a known user of cannabis, and frequently shared pictures and videos of himself smoking spliffs on social media.
He also hinted at drinking lean, also known as sizzurp or purple drank, a legal high made from prescription cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine, which is usually mixed with Mountain Dew, Sprite or another soft drink.
(Image: Instagram/Fredo Santana)
(Image: Instagram)
The active ingredients mix together to make the user feel dazed and high. In extensive usage, it is linked to liver failure and seizure.
Fredo also made reference to his use of Xanax in September the month before his terrifying hospital dash, after Atlanta rapper Russ slammed recreational users of the tranquiliser as "f**king losers".
"Until I can stop thinking bout my dead homies an the trauma that I been thru in my life that's when I'll stop," Fredo tweeted in response.
"It helps wit my seizures an anxiety, I'm prescribed by my doctor to take them."
DJBooth.net also reports that the rapper was taking cannabidiol , a cannabis compound that is sometimes used in the treatment of rare forms of epilepsy.
(CNN) Rapper Fredo Santana has died in Los Angeles, a family member and the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said Saturday. He was 27.
Santana, whose real name was Derrick Coleman, died at his residence in the Reseda neighborhood around 11 p.m. Friday, said Lt. David Smith, a spokesman for the coroner's office.
Smith said the autopsy for the Chicago-born Santana was pending.
Santana was the cousin of Chief Keef (real name Keith Cozart), the best known of the young generation of Chicago rappers to have emerged on the music scene in recent years.
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Chicago rapper Fredo Santana — born Derrick Coleman — has died at the age of 27, according to multiple media accounts. Family members told TMZ he died from a seizure.
The rapper, a cousin of Chief Keef, had been hospitalized recently for longstanding liver and kidney problems. He frequently spoke about using lean, which includes codeine and contributed to the 2007 death of influential Houston rapper Pimp C.
“Hopefully I can be the face to sho n—-s to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us, f— being rock stars gettin high I got ptsd,” he wrote on Twitter last year.
Coleman and his cousin came up in Chicago’s hip-hop scene in the early 2010s and released nearly 10 mixtapes,
including “Fredo Kruger,” “It’s a Scary Site” and an album, “Trappin Ain’t Dead,” which featured Kendrick Lamar on the track “Jealous.” He made a cameo appearance in Drake’s video for for “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”
Rappers from Drake to Travis Scott paid tribute on Saturday morning. Lil B posted:
“Let one off in the air for fredo santana !! For life they cudnt stop that man SSR for life CHICAGO for life Chief Keef chop durk Reese Gino sd the whole Chicago what it do joe we living it up joe Chicago joe for life too fredo – Lil B”
