The musician’s death was confirmed as a suicide by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office in Georgia

Lil Poppa performs onstage at Little Caesars Arena

Lil Poppa onstage at Little Caesars Arena on November 13, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan.Credit : Aaron J. Thornton/Getty

Lil Poppa, born Janarious Mykel Wheeler, has died at the age of 25.

The rapper died in Georgia on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 18, PEOPLE has learned.

The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE on Thursday, Feb. 19.

TMZ was first to report the news.

Lil Poppa was signed to Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group and had released his new song “Out of Town Bae” on Feb. 13.

His popular tracks included “Love & War,” “Mind Over Matter,” with his latest album, Almost Normal Again, released in August last year. He was set to perform in New Orleans next month.

Rapper Lil Poppa performs during Rod Wave - Last Lap Tour

Lil Poppa peforming during Rod Wave – Last Lap Tour in Atlanta in December 2024.Prince Williams/WireImage

In a 2021 interview with Audiomack, the rapper — who got his big break in 2018 with the independently released single Purple Hearts, which amassed millions of views on YouTube — said fans often praised him for getting them through their “toughest times.”

“That means a lot. That makes me realize I got the power to change someone’s outlook on a certain situation. So I need to be mature enough to handle my own situations in a mature way,” the star said.

Many fans paid tribute in the comment section of the star’s final post on Instagram, which featured his latest song “Out of Town Bae.”

“My boy im hurt like I knew you fr and I was just a fan 💔💔💔💔🕊️🐐,” one person wrote.

“Ofc you got a million followers now you was just at 941k before it all (they only love you when you gone),” a second added.

Lil Poppa performs onstage in concert at Toyota Center

Lil Poppa onstage in concert at Toyota Center in Houston in October 2024.Marcus Ingram/Getty

Another also wrote, “800k when they announced it n now it’s 1M followers … smh they don’t love you till u gone 💔💔🕊️.”

And a fourth commented, “I had to come back here, i literallyyy cannot believe this Rip poppa🥲💜💜 my favorite vamp!”

PEOPLE has reached out to a representative for Lil Poppa as well as the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, but didn’t immediately receive responses.