Remembering Atlanta rapper and producer DJ Unk, dead at 43

VPM | By Sidney Madden

Published January 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM EST

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

A man who was a cornerstone of Atlanta rap died over the weekend. DJ Unk was 43 years old. NPR music reporter Sidney Madden has this remembrance.

SIDNEY MADDEN, BYLINE: If you were listening to the radio in the 2000s, there’s a good chance you know this song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WALK IT OUT”)

UNK: (Rapping) Ay. Now walk it out, now walk it out. Now walk it out, now walk it out. Thump style DJs. He’s that man on the track. West Side walk it out.

MADDEN: The man behind that track was Unk. The Atlanta rapper, producer and DJ responsible for helping launch snap music into the mainstream died last week. In 2006, Unk commanded all of hip-hop with his breakthrough track, “Walk It Out,” an infectious hit that became a staple of snap music – the fun-loving hip-hop subgenre of the mid-2000s that put the party at the forefront. Snap music was a reminder that hip-hop wasn’t too cool to dance. Finger snapping and high hats emphasize the groove. And songs like “Walk It Out” came with instructions right in it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WALK IT OUT”)

UNK: (Rapping) Now hit the danceflo’ – danceflo’ – and bend ya back low – ay. She do it with no hands, now stop, pop and roll.

MADDEN: As a single, “Walk It Out” soared, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Culturally, it was pushed even further thanks to OutKast and Jim Jones hopping on the official remix.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WALK IT OUT (REMIX)”)

ANDRE 3000: (Rapping) Walk it out like Usher. If you say real talk, I probably won’t trust ya.

MADDEN: Unk kept the party going in 2007 with his follow-up single, featuring the same snap music energy, “2 Step.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “2 STEP”)

UNK: (Rapping) A two step, a two step.

MADDEN: Unk, whose real name was Anthony Platt, was a standout star of the Atlanta-based label Big Oomp Records thanks to these hits. He remained active in the Atlanta music and nightlife scene for years after. In 2009, he suffered a heart attack at the age of 27 that motivated him to change his lifestyle. He continued to drop music over the years, releasing his last official single in 2023. Unk’s wife, Sherkita Long-Platt, confirmed news of his death on Friday with a Facebook post. Big Oomp Records shared, in a statement, the imprint that he left globally will be cherished forever. Unk was 43 years old. Sidney Madden, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Sidney Madden

Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.

Originally from Boston, Madden graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology. As a freelancer, she earned bylines at MTV, People's Choice, Nylon Magazine and more before joining the editorial team at storied hip-hop pillar XXL Magazine.

During her time at XXL, both as an editorial assistant and assistant editor, Madden pitched, wrote and edited news posts and features for the outlet and interviewed artists ranging from all eras and facets of rap — from Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent to Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and Lil Uzi Vert. In addition to working on cultural touchstones like the magazine's annual Freshman Class covers, in 2016, Madden assisted in reporting out one of the magazine's seminal investigative packages, The Current Status of Every Murdered Rapper's Case, which revealed the high percentage of unsolved murders involving rappers over the last 30 years.

Madden joined the NPR Music team in 2017, serving as editorial lead for digitizing and editing music stories that air on NPR's premiere news magazine programs, Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. In 2018, she began producing Tiny Desk Concerts with a special focus on bringing burgeoning, left-of-center artists from the worlds of R&B and hip-hop to the desk. To date, her Tiny Desk Concert productions include Jorja Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, DVSN and Snoh Aalegra. She's also created reports for on-air and digital that contextualize hip-hop culture within society's larger strata — whether it's unpacking the genius marketing of Cardi B, Tyler, The Creator's subversive heartbreak or the socioeconomics that fuel Solange's downhome Afrofuturism.

In September 2020, after two years of research, reporting and development, Madden became the co-host of Louder Than A Riot, NPR Music's first narrative investigative podcast that traces the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration.

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