Philly rapper and model Chynna dies of accidental overdose at 25

Chynna Rogers, 25, the Philadelphia model and rapper known as Chynna, died Wednesday, April 8, of an accidental drug overdose, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Thursday.

She was found unresponsive at her Philadelphia home. She had residences here and in New York.

Ms. Rogers, who grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from Lankenau High School, was 14 when she was signed with Ford Models after being discovered at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.

“Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed,” the family said in a statement issued through her manager, John Miller.

A 2015 profile in The Inquirer noted that “her quick delivery flows in and out of aggressive beats. She’s a female emcee who hates stereotypes and doesn’t rap about sex, but who fits in with the rowdy boys of A$AP Mob, whom she calls close friends.”

Although she was first known as a model, she had long dreamed of a career in music, according to Pitchfork magazine. She was still in high school when she sought out the producer Steven Rodriguez, better known as A$AP Yams, hoping he would help her.

» READ MORE: Chynna Rogers: Model and rapper and chasing more

Ms. Rogers described herself in a YouTube feature as “a musician who raps.” She was known as a talented rapper with a throaty alto voice sounding far more mature than her years.

In that same feature, Ms. Rogers’ voice becomes choked when thanking A$AP Yams, who formed the New York hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, for inspiring her music career. He died of an accidental overdose in 2015.

“When you find someone like that, and they believe in you and have good things to say about you, you run with it,” Ms. Rogers said. She went on to became associated with the A$AP Mob.

According to Pitchfork, Chynna’s first online hits — 2013’s “Selfie” and 2014’s “Glen Coco” — “offered up her magnetic charisma, unfettered rawness, and natural understanding of form.”

The magazine said she was open about her opiate addiction and brought her struggles out in her music. She released a 2016 mixtape, Ninety, on her 22nd birthday in August that year to acknowledge completing three months of sobriety.

In 2018, she told Vibe about her struggles: “I felt crazy. I didn’t want to be a statistic.… It was nerve-wracking to be open, but when you see how many more people who are dealing with the same thing, it’s good to have some kind of example of someone you didn’t expect to be going through it.”

In 2019, she released a trio of singles: “mood,” “asmr,” and “iddd,” which stands for “I don’t do drugs.” In the last of the three, she sings, “I don’t do drugs no more.”

The last work she released was December’s in case i die first EP.

There was no immediate information about services.