Tributes have been pouring in for a well-known Dartmouth, N.S. rapper who died after being stabbed in downtown Halifax early Sunday morning.
Halifax Regional Police have confirmed the victim is Patrick Wayne Stay, 36, and that his death has been ruled a homicide.
Family, friends and the music community have been paying tribute to Pat Stay, who was a successful battle rapper.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his family called Stay an “an honourable man who was on his way to a bright future.”
Among the many people honouring him was rapper Eminem, who said he was “one of the best battlers of all time” on Twitter.
Fellow Canadian artist Drake called Stay “one of my fav rappers ever” in a tribute on Instagram.
During an interview with Global News Morning in September 2020 to promote a hip hop fundraising concert for mental health, Stay described battle rap as his passion.
“Battle rap is kind of like, I would say, spoken word poetry mixed with a roasting session in rhyme form,” he said.
“Coming up, as a young man, I was always a class clown and always, you know, one of those guys and it just kind of fit my personality. And I took it from from Halifax to Toronto and then all over the world, literally all over the world. And it’s amazing.”
Stay had just released his latest track last Friday
Investigation ongoing
Meanwhile, the investigation into the stabbing continues.
Police were called to the 1600-block of Lower Water Street shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of someone with a weapon.
When they arrived, they found a male victim with stab wounds.
He was rushed to hospital, but died of his injuries.
Investigators have not released any details of a possible suspect, but said there was no immediate threat to the general public.
