Cash from Money Gang was shot... RIP

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Mar 30, 2006
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Richmond rapper dies of gunshot wounds
By Matthias Gafni
MEDIANEWS STAFF


A renowned Bay Area rapper signed to slain hip-hop star Mac Dre's record label succumbed to his gunshot wounds after a shooting at a Vallejo apartment complex, officials said Friday.

Johnny Castaneda Jr., 25, of Richmond, a rapper who went by the stage names "Johnny Ca$h" and "Tha Fast Gunna," died Thursday from a gunshot wound to the head at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek after being on life support, a Contra Costa coroner's official said Friday. Castaneda rapped on late Vallejo legend Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks' record label -- Thizz Entertainment.

Vallejo police said that Castaneda was shot multiple times in the parking lot of Sereno Village Apartments, 750 Sereno Drive. It was the second shooting victim found this year in the apartments, both with loose ties to Mac Dre's name. Police were not disclosing details of Thursday's shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

Castaneda's death set the Bay Area rap scene abuzz, with hundreds of fans paying their online respects to Ca$h on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/cashthafastgunna).

One MySpace comment read: "T.I.P. Homie U Wit Dre now ...", referring to Mac Dre, who was shot and killed in a still unsolved murder in Kansas City, Mo., in 2004.

Castaneda was signed to Mac Dre's label after Dre, 34, had already passed away, said Black Dog Bone, the editor of Murder Dog magazine, a popular rap magazine based in Vallejo.

"He knew Mac Dre ... but not much. They had a pretty big difference in age," Bone said.

The rap editor said he interviewed Johnny Ca$h on Tuesday as part of a larger article on Thizz Entertainment for the magazine's next issue. The slain rapper had previously joined dozens of other members of Thizz Entertainment for a photo shoot along Mare Island Strait, Bone said.

A Thizz Entertainment representative did not return a call for comment Friday.

Christiane Ambrose, 21, a Sereno apartment resident, was sleeping Thursday morning during the shooting, but heard the ruckus after.

Ambrose said Castaneda lived in the apartment complex with his wife. A Vallejo police official said Castaneda lived in Richmond, but had been staying of late in Vallejo.

Thursday's homicide marks the city's sixth slaying of the year, one more than all of 2006. The city saw 16 in 2005 and nine in 2004.

As for the rap connection to the recent violence, Black Dog Bone attributes it to inner-city problems.

"A lot of kids who do rap are forced to be in a gang because they're in their hood," Bone said. "You have to be on this side or that side. That's just the reality. You have to survive."
 
May 25, 2005
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man i just got at him last week wednesday in that apartment complex, slid him a beat cd and gave em my contact info. said he would get at me if he was feelin it. ryda was there too...this is that bullshit!! rest in peace
 
Mar 15, 2005
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damn rip to cash mayne thas fucced up......

but its an everyday thing though.....i meet too many cats wit talent and a few months later they either dead or locced up for killin someone........

im surprised vallejo only had 5 murders last year....they cleaned shit up then......Stoccton got a murder every week on average and every year it hits 50-60.....Sacramento already got like 30-40 this year.....Oakland always got some of the highest numbers too.....countin the valley and all the bay theres gotta be at least one murder a day in northern california.....that shits ridiculous......and to make it worse most of the time they never catch the killers......

seems the cops probably dont really know shit about Cash's murder right now.....and probably wont ever if they dont find the killer right away......
 
Aug 14, 2003
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COOPDVILL said:
DAMN R.I.P MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO HIS FAM! TRUELY INDEED THIS HASNT BEEN A GOOD MONTH!!!
I FEEL IT. HE HAD A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD OF HIM. HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES OF THE LABEL. TOO MANY ARE GOING, I JUST FOUND OUT THAT MY BROTHER WAS KILLED, AND I THOUGHT HE WAS & TOO MANY PEOPLE, HE WAS FEARED & UNTOUCHABLE. RIP TO CA$H, MY THOUGHTS & PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU, YOUR FAMILY & THIZZ. THIS HAS TO STOP.