Kevin Fret was shot and killed at 5:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (Jan. 10) in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was 24 years old. The emerging artist, who kicked off his musical career in 2018 with his unapologetic track “Soy Asi,” was “an artistic soul and a big-hearted dreamer,” as manager Eduardo Rodriguez said. Fret's mission as a gay trap artist was to change the game in the music industry, and inspire artists in the LGBT community to do the same.<doc-sep>Kevin Fret, known as the first openly gay Latin trap artist, was shot and killed in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico Thursday morning. He was 24 years old. El Nuevo Dia reported that Fret was shot multiple times while riding a motorcycle around 5:30 a.m. local time. He died at the Medical Center of Río Piedras. His death is currently under investigation. The Puerto Rican artist gained popularity after releasing his single “Soy Asi” on April 7, 2018. He was also featured on Mike Duran’s song “Diferente” on July 18, 2018. The music videos have received more than 900,000 and 2 million views on YouTube, respectively. Fret was popular on social media and the LGBTQ community for his music and unabashed gender-variant style. His fierce personality and vibrant fashion matched his powerfully infectious trap lyrics. In a statement to Remezcla, Fret’s manager, Eduardo Rodriguez, said “Kevin was an artistic soul, a dreamer with a big heart. His passion was music, and he still had a lot left to do. This violence should stop. There are no words to describe our emotions and the pain that it causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go. We should all unite in these difficult times, and ask for lots of peace for our beloved Puerto Rico.”<doc-sep>Fans are mourning the fatal shooting of Kevin Fret, one of Puerto Rico's only openly urban music artists. The rapper, who was 24, was shot several times as he was riding his motorcycle early Thursday morning in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a neighborhood in the San Juan metro area. Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, according to reports, though they gave out information about a possible suspect. Fret broke into Latin trap music with his debut single “Soy Así,” which translates to “I’m this way,” a song that celebrates being unapologetic about one's life. This was a sentiment Fret subscribed to and he encouraged others to do the same as an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community. This was on the sky of my town today here in Puerto Rico, I don't think it is coincidence since my dad was being transphobic right next to me and it broke my heart. Rest in peace #KevinFret we'll miss you angel pic.twitter.com/zUBNAAjisp — wrow (@Nadia_Rizavi) January 10, 2019 “I’m going to act like I don’t give a damn about what anybody has to say, with my blonde hair, my black nails, showing my stomach, glittery from head to toe,” Fret said in an interview with Paper magazine last year. “[Now I see] young gay guys or young lesbians looking at me now like a role model, like wow, if he did it, and he don’t care what anybody else has to say, I can do it.” Eduardo Rodriguez, Fret’s manager, said in a press statement that Fret was an artistic soul and a "big-hearted dreamer." “There are no words that describe the feeling we have and the pain that causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go," said Rodriguez. "We must all unite in these difficult times, and ask for much peace for our beloved Puerto Rico." As Fret’s family and fans process his death, Puerto Rico’s growing murder rate is becoming an urgent and unavoidable matter. He is now one of the 24 people who’ve been killed in Puerto Rico since 2019 began, marking an average of more than two murders a day on the island. El asesinato de Kevin Fret es doloroso. Mi solidaridad con sus seres queridos. Asqueante es ver la homofobia que se dispara en momentos en que una persona LGBTT muere de esta manera. NADIE se busca ser asesinado. La violencia NUNCA se justifica. Que investiguen todos los ángulos. — Pedro Julio Serrano (@PedroJulio) January 10, 2019 Violence on the island has increased substantially since Hurricane Maria. Other recent high-profile murders on the island include two brothers who were shot on camera earlier this week, resulting in one being injured and the other dying. Special Agent in Charge Douglas Leff, the top FBI official in Puerto Rico, said the island is undergoing a “crisis of violence” in an interview with local radio station NotiUno 630 on Wednesday. He had asked the agency for more personnel and resources from the U.S. mainland and expects to hear a response within the next few days. Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, who is a non-voting member of the U.S. Congress, called for more resources to ensure Puerto Rico’s safety in a letter to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Quantos mais vão morrer? O cantor e ativista dos direitos LGBTs Kevin Fret foi assassinado em San Juan, capital de Porto Rico. Com apenas 24 anos, Fret foi atingido por vários tiros enquanto andava de moto pelas ruas da cidade. pic.twitter.com/LsvBgmJBq0 — Carina Vitral (@carinavitral) January 11, 2019 González stated that surging crime is related to “high levels of absenteeism within the island’s police force” and drug trafficking on the island. “In light of these developments, it is critical that the federal government take all necessary actions to ensure the safety and security of the 3.2. million Americans in Puerto Rico,” González wrote. FOLLOW NBC LATINO ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.<doc-sep>Openly gay Latin trap artist Kevin Fret, who PAPER featured last spring, died Thursday morning in Puerto Rico. The 24-year-old was shot at least twice around dawn, while riding a motorbike through the San Juan neighborhood of Santurce. His attacker had fired multiple times: Eight bullet shells were found at the scene. Fret, who hailed from the municipality of Carolina, had relocated to Miami years earlier. When he released the video for "Soy Asi" last April, close to 50k fans were following him on Instagram, where he often spoke out against homophobia in the urbano market. His account has been cleared of posts, but in a video posted to Facebook early in December, Fret jokes about not wanting to be gay — then reminds viewers he'd never stop being himself. He regularly defended that right across all platforms, in interviews, and in his music. The circumstances surrounding his murder are still being investigated, and Fret's death has not been declared a hate crime at this time. But for the queer community of San Juan, the loss is a reminder of the challenges they face, and the fear with which many live. "I'm already afraid of navigating the island, and this makes that fear grow exponentially. Right now, so many people are feeling that fear," local artist and performer María José told PAPER last night. "My friend was going to come see me, but she didn't because she was afraid to leave her house." So far this year, at least 24 people have been murdered in Puerto Rico. It's an alarming number — and it's actually lower than last year's count for the same period. CBS reports that in 2017 the homicide rate in Puerto Rico was higher than any U.S. state, attributing the violence to gangs. But factoring in the island's extreme economic problems is critical here: Crime is a symptom of a poverty, and in Puerto Rico, more than 40 percent of the population is living in poverty. "It's a crisis of violence, and a crisis of mental health, crisis of toxic masculinity, a gun crisis, a spiritual crisis, and an education crisis," María José said. "There's crisis everywhere, it's a crisis of everything." In the U.S., the LGBTQIA community faces higher rates of poverty and crime. But those numbers are hard to quantify in Puerto Rico, especially in terms of homicides: The police do not separate statistics by population. Osvaldo Burgos, president of the Comisión de Derechos Civiles and secretary of the Colectivo Orgullo Arcoiris, the Puerto Rico PRIDE organizing nonprofit, said the management of statistics, including in the courts system, is deficient overall. But the lack of analyzation for marginalized groups shows a bigger issue. "This is part of the discrimination against LGBT communities. Because the information is not segregated, problems are not identified as they are," Burgos said. "Obviously, it's difficult to get funds, identify problems, and determine tendencies. All of that is very difficult to do in this country, and I think it constitutes another form of state violence against the LGBT community." Discrimination against the LGBTQIA community is also apparent in the online response to Kevin Fret's death: Victim-blaming, religious zealots (when, in fact, Fret was quite religious), and other homophobic attacks are rampant in the comment sections of news outlet posts. "It's a crisis of violence, and a crisis of mental health, crisis of toxic masculinity, a gun crisis, a spiritual crisis, and an education crisis. There's crisis everywhere, it's a crisis of everything." Someone even posted a Duck Hunter GIF, according to María José, alluding to shooting "patos," the word for ducks that's also used a slur against gay men. "I'm an artist, too. I myself am a fucking performer, I have aspirations of doing music, and urban music, in the future," she added. "Doing that would be exposing myself to a lot of people that want me dead. Or maybe they don't actively want me dead, but they will find humor in my death, maybe, with a comment or a gif on Facebook. It's really discouraging. In Puerto Rico, the stakes are really high. And it's a monumental pressure on everyone." Sora Ferri is an activist with La Sombrilla Cuir, or the Queer Umbrella, a transfeminist educational platform. She was taken aback by Fret's death — they were the same age. That Fret was at times confrontational (he was arrested last June on aggravated battery charges) points to a coping or survival mechanism often adopted by femmes, she said. "When you're a high femme, and super effeminate gay, people aren't going to take you seriously, and you have to be kind of on the offensive all the time," she said. "I think a lot about how... when we're out together, with people you trust, in public places that are not for us but we take up space, we're all kind of anxious — all the femmes and all the queers and all the trans girls. So what do we do to make up for it? We get loud and try to laugh and go over the anxiety, enjoying ourselves and dancing and having fun, basically. But then you kind of forget that you might be disturbing the homophobes and straight folks around you. The industry and the society kind of makes femmes have to be like that in the first place, be on the offensive in the first place, all the time." In a Facebook post yesterday, Sombrilla Cuir's post noted that while not all of Fret's actions were favorable, his contribution to breaking gender norms and battling misogyny and machismo should serve as inspiration to live authentically, and to keep working toward greater space for queer artists. "You would see him on Instagram being in the studio, in interviews, being in different parts of the world, just being himself and being loud and being femme," Ferri said.<doc-sep>
Kevin Fret, a Puerto Rican-born trap artist, died Thursday, local reports and police said. He was 24. The singer was shot while riding on a motorcycle in Santurce, a district of San Juan, The New York Times reported. Police are searching for another man who fled the scene. CBS News correspondent David Begnaud tweeted the singer was the “22nd person to die this year in gun violence on the island.” Police did not release the name of the man shot but his manager, Eduardo Rodriguez, confirmed Fret's death to Billboard. “Kevin was an artistic soul, a big-hearted dreamer. His passion was music, and still had a lot to do," Rodriguez said in a statement. "This violence must stop. There are no words that describe the feeling we have and the pain that causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go. We must all unite in these difficult times, and ask for much peace for our beloved Puerto Rico.” Fret gained popularity in Puerto Rico and dubbed himself the first openly gay Latin trap artist. “I’m going to act like I don’t give a d--- about what anybody has to say, with my blonde hair, my black nails, showing my stomach, glittery from head to toe,” Fret told Paper magazine in an interview published in April. “Young gay guys or young lesbians … are looking at me now like a role model, like wow, if he did it, and he don’t care what anybody else has to say, I can do it.” The singer rose to popularity with his 2018 single “Soy Asi.” In June, he was charged with battery after he allegedly got into a fight with a man in Miami, NBC Miami reported. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fret's death comes as after the island's top FBI official, Special Agent in Charge Douglas Leff, said Puerto Rico was facing a "crisis of violence," CBS News reported.