Chinx

Lionel Du Fon Pickens (December 4, 1983 – May 17, 2015), better known by his stage name Chinx (formerly Chinx Drugz), was an American rapper.

He was a member of The Rockaway Riot Squad alongside fellow slain rapper Stack Bundles.

Chinx later joined French Montana's Coke Boys Records, gaining recognition for his appearances on the Coke Boys mixtapes and the Cocaine Riot mixtape series.

Chinx was born and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens on December 4, 1983, living in both Redfern Houses and Edgemere Houses, now known as Ocean Bay Apartments.

He spent time in North Amityville in his teenage years where he briefly attended high school.

When speaking of how he started rapping, Chinx said, "I started rapping at the table in junior high school for fun with the homies, and then by 9th grade is when I started taking music seriously. At that point is when I started investing my street money into my studio time and trying to find my sound."

He said he got the name "Chinx Drugz" since he "used to smoke a lot of weed back in the day, and this older chick used to call me chinky and it stuck; the Drugz, well, that’s self explanatory — I been slangin’ on these corners."

Chinx first started rapping with his close friend Stack Bundles while he was in high school, whom he would later form the group Riot Squad with, along with local rappers Bynoe and Cau2Gs.

The group started to gain a buzz throughout New York but that ended abruptly in early 2005 when Chinx was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison.

He served his time at Arthur Kill Correctional Facility.

During this time, Bundles formed a friendship with rapper Max B, and together they joined Jim Jones' group Byrd Gang.

While Chinx was incarcerated, on June 11, 2007, fellow rapper and friend Stack Bundles was shot and killed.

In late 2008, Chinx was released from prison and through his affiliation with the now deceased Bundles, he met Max B. The following year, Max B introduced Chinx to fellow New York rapper French Montana, who was still relatively unknown at the time.

Together, Chinx and Montana formed the hip hop group, Coke Boys.

On April 13, 2009, Drugz released his first solo mixtape, Hurry Up & Die Vol. 1: Get Ya Casket On.

He followed that with Hurry Up & Die Vol. 2: From The Cage To The Stage on January 7, 2010.

Drugz then released the third mixtape in that series, Hurry Up & Die Vol. 3 on April 13, 2010.

On March 15, 2011, Drugz released his fourth official mixtape Flight 2011, which was entirely produced by New York producer Harry Fraud.

The mixtape featured a sole guest appearance from Coke Boys-cohort French Montana.

On April 19, 2011, he released his fifth solo mixtape Cocaine Riot, featuring guest appearances from the various members of Coke Boys.

On August 20, 2011, Coke Boys released their first official collaboration mixtape Coke Boys 2.

The mixtape was primarily produced by Harry Fraud, with additional production from Lex Luger.

Coke Boys 2 featured members Drugz, Montana, Cheeze, Flip, and Charlie Rock.

Following the Coke Boys 2 release, on September 24, 2011, Drugz and French Montana released a collaboration mixtape named, Coke Boys Run NY.

On April 13, 2012, Coke Boys released their second collaboration mixtape, Coke Boys 3, which significantly featured Montana and Drugz throughout, along with Flip, gianni maggiacomo, and Charlie Rock.

Additional guest appearances came from Akon, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, Wale, and Red Cafe among others.

The mixtape was met with positive reviews from music critics, with the production the focal point of the praise.

XXL credited Montana and Drugz as being the stars of the mixtape.

On July 3, 2012, Drugz released his sixth solo mixtape, Cocaine Riot 2, to positive critical reception with AllHipHop calling it a "classic".

Cocaine Riot 2 featured guest appearances from rappers Action Bronson and Chevy Woods, among others.

Cocaine Riot 2 featured the significant Montana and Drugz collaboration "I'm A Coke Boy".

In 2012, he was featured on Wale's "Let a Nigga Know" and Vado's "You Ain't Good".

On January 4, 2013, Drugz released the official remix to "I'm a Coke Boy" featuring rappers Rick Ross and Diddy, along with French Montana.

The remix would end up being ranked number 43 on Complex's list of the 50 best songs of 2013.

Then on April 15, 2013, Drugz released his seventh solo mixtape Cocaine Riot 3, which featured the previously released remix of "I'm a Coke Boy".

Cocaine Riot 3 featured additional guest appearances from Ace Hood, Juicy J, Yo Gotti, DJ Khaled, Roscoe Dash and others.

Drugz told MTV that, "When I was making this mixtape, I was just trying to give the people something a little different from my normal. I basically started messing with a couple of different beats, but I kept it real New York. But I just really wanted to give 'em the other side of Chinx that they ain't been hearing in a while."

The mixtape closes with "Maybe", a tribute to his deceased childhood friend Stack Bundles.

He was killed in a drive-by shooting in Jamaica, Queens on May 17, 2015.

Two men have since been arrested in the case.