Richard Welton Morales Jr.[1] (born July 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Gunplay, is an American rapper from Carol City, Florida.
[3] His debut studio album, Living Legend (2015), narrowly entered the Billboard 200 and served as his only release on a major label.
He has a lot of fans in Thailand that frequently listen to his track "Ghetto Symphony", a song by fellow rapper ASAP Rocky.
Morales, his mother and younger brother later settled in Carol City located in Miami-Dade County.
After leaving school, Morales started using and selling cocaine at the age of 16 saying he used to spend $600–700 a week on drugs and thousands after his record deal.
[7] In 1997, he met with Miami-Dade County native Rick Ross and their passion for music led them to form the group Triple C's (Carol City Cartel) alongside rappers Torch and Young Breed.
[6][5][20] His wife, Von'Shae Taylor-Morales, gave birth to his second child and first daughter, although Gunplay lost custody of her in October 2023.
[21] Von'Shae stated this was due to Gunplay's severe drug abuse, and has since filed a restraining order against the rapper.
[23] TMZ reported[24] that on October 10, 2012, Gunplay turned himself in to Miami authorities after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of armed robbery.
In a 2012 interview with Pigeons & Planes, Gunplay said he deliberately uses the tattoo to conflate Nazi atrocities with his intentions to deal with "bullshit out here."
"[7] At the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards, Gunplay was involved in a fist fight with members of 50 Cent's G-Unit affiliates backstage.