It was Nashawn Jones’s dream to become the next rap artist who made it out of Philadelphia. “He always said he was going to buy me a big house and move me out of the city,” said his mother, Patricia Jones. “And I was looking forward to his dream becoming his reality one day soon.”
He drew inspiration from the troubles in his his life, and he started honing his raps when he was in placement as a teen. “I remember once when he first came home it would be 5:30 am and I would hear music and him rapping from downstairs,” Patricia said. “I would jump out of bed and yell boy shut up, and he would be like alright but never did.”
But she couldn’t stay mad. “When I finally got up he would have cleaned the house from top to bottom as he rapped.”
He was even in the studio recording music the night before he died, on Aug. 27, 2016. He was shot once in the chest on the 1700 block of Newkirk Street and died that night. He was 25.
He had recently proposed to his girlfriend, who said yes, and they were planning to make a life together in North Carolina.
As a child he got the nickname Moo moo from his older cousin and soon everyone began calling him that. He even referred to himself as Moo moo.
Moo moo began playing football for the Franklin Chargers from the time he was 8 years old until he was 13, Patricia recalls. He had to lose weight because he was too big for one division and too small for the other, so he lost the weight to play. After five years of playing football and helping the Franklin Chargers go to the Championship, he decided to try to play basketball with his uncle. For the next three years, he spent lots of time playing ball with his uncle.
Despite his troubles later in life, he was always respectful, lovable and everyone loved him from the kids to the elderly. He would often assist take out older neighbors’ trash.
“I raised him in North Philadelphia near 16th and Susquehanna Avenue,” Patricia said. “Each time I go around that area everyone always tells me how much that miss him and how kind he was to them.”
Nashawn was the comedian in the crowd. A lot of time when you saw him coming, you would just smile because you already knew something funny was going to come out of his mouth.
“Moo was a funny guy,” said his little brother, Joseph Barratti. “He kept us laughing all of the time. I really miss him. We would always be together when we were younger. I miss those days.”
Although Moo moo was in and out of trouble, he was able to receive his GED while spending some time in jail as a young adult. But on his release he went to Community College of Philadelphia and took Business Courses and enrolled in a school to obtain his CDL License.
At this time Nashawn’s case remains unsolved. If you have any information about his case, please call the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-TIPS (8477) so that the family can have some closure.
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
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