Kennedy Joseph Noel was 23 when he was killed in a drive-by shooting on the night of May 22, 2020, in East New York, Brooklyn. Known professionally as KJ Balla, he was struck in the chest on Bradford Street near New Lots Avenue, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, and was pronounced dead. A 26-year-old companion was also shot and survived. Witnesses said someone in a dark hoodie fled the scene; investigators mentioned ongoing gang disputes as a possible motive.

Noel had been building a music career since childhood, starting as a dancer and later co-founding Nothing Records. Some of his songs had been streamed tens of thousands of times. Police later identified a man named Hassan Brown as a person of interest; Brown was himself killed in a drive-by shooting in June 2020. An associate of Noel, Anthony Williams, was subsequently linked by federal investigators to Brown’s death and faced unrelated federal ammunition charges. No arrest has been announced in Noel’s murder.