A few posts on social media, sites that do not verify their information… A rumor is quickly launched.
“How did Zola die? It must be fake.” On social networks, the rumor swells: is the rapper Zola dead? Once is not custom, it will only take two articles, published on “humorous” sites, for the question to arise seriously on Twitter. “The rapper Zola died this afternoon [sic]”, headlines the Flash Info site, which nevertheless specifies that it is a “satirical site” not to be taken seriously, when another article published on the obscure Actualite.co site and shared on social networks, affirms: “The famous French rapper Zola, found dead in a hotel in Paris.”
But why are artists, and more particularly rappers, regularly the target of this kind of rumour? Last year, it was Ninho, a young French rapper too, who was announced dead in an accident by another satirical site, causing a wave of concern on social networks. Simple buzz or malevolence? The question is valid.
Silent on Instagram, the Franche-Comté rapper Zola had to cancel his last concert dates scheduled for the Solidays festival and the Eurockéennes, after the sudden death of his mother in a car accident on June 19.