Theophilus London: 5 Things To Know About Rapper Whose Family Has Reported Him Missing
Theophilus London – a rapper and singer who has worked alongside Tame Impala and Kanye West – has reportedly been missing for months. Here’s what we know.
- Theophilus London is a rapper and singer.
- London collaborated with Tame Impala, Sara Quinn, and Kanye West.
- He has been reported missing since July 2022.
“Over the last few weeks, friends and family of Theophilus London have been working together to piece together his whereabouts,” the rep for the rapper and singer said in a statement to Consequence on Dec. 28. The family of Theophilus, 35, noted that he hadn’t been seen since July 2022. “On December 27th, family members of Theophilus London traveled to Los Angeles to file a missing persons report with the LAPD. They are now seeking the public’s help with any information as to London’s whereabouts.”
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Public Information Officer would not confirm or deny that the London family filed a report over Theophilus’s apparent disappearance. “We can confirm that a missing person’s report was filed with LAPD yesterday. No other information is available,” the LAPD PIO told Entertainment Tonight.
London’s family pleaded for his safe return. His cousin, Mikhail Noel, shared a series of Instagram Stories about his missing relative. “Theo hasn’t been seen since July. If you know anything about his whereabouts, please hit @iamdjkellz,” read one story that Noel reshared. “Theo, we will find you. Your family and friends love you. We need you. We want you to be here with us in our presence. We are looking for you to bring you home,” wrote Theo’s cousin.
Theo’s father, Lary Moses, included a message to his son in the family’s statement to Consequence. “Theo, your Dad loves you, son. We miss you. And all your friends and relatives are searching for you. Wherever you are, send us some signal. No matter what we will come get you son.”
Theophilus London is a 6’2″, 175-pound Black man with dark brown eyes. Per his reps, if you have any information on “his whereabouts or well-being, please reach out to his cousin Mikhail Noel at his Instagram account @iamdjkellz or the LAPD.”
As the search continues, here’s what we know about Theophilus London.
Theophilus London Is A Rappers & Singer
Born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn, Theophilus (whose first name is pronounced “Thee-off-illis,” according to a 2011 story in Newsweek) dropped his debut mixtape, This Charming Mixtape, in 2009. The project’s title paid homage to one of his musical influences, The Smiths, whose song “This Charming Man” was released in 1983.
But He Desired To Be So Much More
“I feel I have so much more to deliver than music,” London told Newsweek. “I’m really focused on it, but the fact that people respect me and think I’m tasteful…I definitely want to use that to my advantage and do as much as I can.” In 2011, he collaborated with Gucci, designed shoes for Cole Haan, and modeled for Tommy Hilfiger.
While many questioned whether London was getting ahead of himself by not establishing himself a rapper worthy of those partnerships – the Pitchfork review of his 2011 mixtape Lovers Holiday said, “everything seems to be in place except for the music” – he didn’t see it that way. After studying marketing in college, one thing London learned was “how to push a brand.” And his brand was him.
He’s Worked With A Lot Of Notable Names
London admitted to Newsweek that he “doesn’t know too much about fashion” and that “having a line and getting into fashion, is too complicated. I need to make five records first. It leaves a good legacy to have five records.”
Citing Prince, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson as other influences, London followed up This Charming Mixtape with 2010’s I Want You before releasing his first major label LP, Timez Are Weird These Days. Produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek and featuring the band’s Holly Miranda and Tegan & Sara’s Sara Quinn, Timez Are Weird These Days made a splash on the Billboard R&B/Hip-op and Rap Albums charts.
Tame Impala Was His Favorite Collaborator
London followed Timez with 2014’s Vibes, which included “Can’t Stop,” a song featuring Kanye “Ye” West. The album also featured Leon Ware, Soko, Devonte Hynes, The Force MD’s, and Jesse Boykins III. In January 2020, London released Bebey, a record that featured appearances from Tame Impala (“Only You,” “Whiplash”) Lil Yachty (“Seals”), Raekwon (“Whoop Tang Flow”) and Ariel Pink (“Revenge”)
“Yeah, Kevin Parker is one of my favorite collaborators, along with Ariel Pink and Virgil [Abloh]. He’s just himself. I met him on tour with Mark Ronson and we became really good friends and had a great relationship,” London told HollywoodLife in 2020. “[Kevin] doesn’t really work with anybody, so that’s cool. It was a fun back and forth of telling him different things about my culture and hearing things about his culture. To me, I’m like the Run DMC to his Aerosmith. It’s a crazy collaboration where it’s hip-hop, and all these genres that we don’t see on TV or hear are blowing up.”
He Has Courted Controversy
“I just think, that’s a sound that’s already there, [Ye] just tries to make it sound better,” London told HollywoodLife in 2012 when talking about Cruel Summer. “I don’t think he’s taking his sound here; he just wants to show people he can do that too. I don’t think that sound is going to be around forever. It’s about the times right now, but it’s great, and Kanye is always showing people that he rules that time.”
In retrospect, Theo’s list of collaborators hasn’t aged well. Charlotte Ercoli Cole – Ariel Pink’s former bandmate and then-girlfriend – accused Pink of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in 2021, per The Guardian. Ye’s legacy has rotted thanks to his continual antisemitism. Yachty was sued in 2020 for an alleged assault, per TMZ. While all of this is out of London’s control, controversy came for him following the release of Bebey.
“I think the most important thing was finding out that I didn’t want to go with the same image of myself,” London told HollywoodLife in March 2020 when describing the visual presentation of Bebey. “I started coming up with this character where it’s this black woman with blonde hair. I reached out to my friend, artist Alexander Harrison from Brooklyn, and I loved his paintings, and I started talking to him and showing him some references. I had this blonde wig, and I put it on this girl and took some photos of her and sent it to him, and we started coming up with the Bebey girl.”
Fans accused London of “having plagiarized Cameroonian writer and composer Francis Bebey’s song “Lily,” from the album Si Les Gaulois Avaient Su,” according to OkayAfrica. The family for Bebey said that London and his producers “didn’t see fit to contact us until a few days before the album was released. No agreement has had time to be concluded. They have the nerve to use the name BEBEY and make it into a kind of brand (which would be theirs). It’s rude.”
HOMAGE. I don’t have to show my references it’s hip hops job to figure it out . I’m a mad scientist of@sorts. My pub company GAVe him 50 % of the three records we did including bebey single pic.twitter.com/W23VL6Wbti
— Theophilus London (@TheophilusL) April 9, 2020
London defended the decision on Twitter, saying the album was an homage. And that he “gave [the family] 50 % of the three records we did including bebey single.”