Family and supporters urge Jacksonville to declare March 18th ‘Lil Poppa Day’

Family members and supporters of the late Jacksonville rapper Lil Poppa are asking city leaders to recognize his legacy with a remembrance day on his birthday.

During Tuesday night’s Jacksonville City Council meeting, relatives, friends and fans urged the council to declare March 18, the rapper’s birthday, as “Lil Poppa Day,” honoring the artist born Janarious Mykel Wheeler.

“I would appreciate if you guys would claim March 18th Lil Poppa or Janarious Mykel Wheeler Day,” Irma Mitchell, Wheeler’s cousin, said.

Supporters said the recognition would mean a great deal to the Eastside community where Wheeler grew up.

“Recognizing Poppa Day would mean a lot to our neighborhood and our youth,” Brittany Washington said.

Lil Poppa died Feb. 18 at age 25 from suicide. In the weeks since his death, supporters say his impact on the Jacksonville music scene and local community has been widely felt.

Hundreds of people lined Jacksonville streets on March 7 to pay their respects during memorial services.

Latavia Harris, a longtime Eastside resident and family friend, said people traveled from across the country to honor the rapper.

“We had children come from Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska for this one child who came from the Eastside,” Harris said.

Harris said recognizing Lil Poppa could inspire young people in the community who saw him grow from a neighborhood kid into a nationally known artist.

“Watching him grow up to become what a lot of kids aspire to be, it gives them the liberation to say ‘I can do this because he did it,’” Harris said. “The greatest thing about Lil Poppa, he never forgot where he was from. He never got bigger than the Eastside.”

Supporters also said the remembrance day could highlight the importance of mental health awareness.

Jacksonville City Council Member Rahman Johnson said he has begun discussions with the mayor’s administration about creating a remembrance day.

“He has brought so much notoriety back to Jacksonville, a young kid from OutEast,” Johnson said. “We can use this not just as an opportunity to talk about a great artist, but also as an opportunity to talk about issues that people may be having.”

Harris added that Wheeler’s influence extended far beyond Jacksonville.

“Poppa wasn’t just Eastside-related. He was worldwide, countrywide. It wasn’t just here,” she said.

A representative from the mayor’s office said during Tuesday’s meeting that the administration is currently working on a proclamation honoring Lil Poppa and hopes to have it completed by the end of the week.