Local

Rapper who ‘made it rain’ on classmates at graduation is now using the moment to help classmates

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A local rapper who was kicked out of his own high school graduation ceremony after throwing thousands of dollars into the crowd says he has no regrets despite being detained by police.

Metro Marrs, 18, whose real name is Marquise Smith, was one of the hundreds of students to graduate Sunday from Langston Hughes High School in Fulton County. During the ceremony, smartphone video showed the rapper walking across the stage when all of the sudden, he started pulling money out of his pants, making it rain all over his classmates in the crowd.

“I had $10K in my pants and just to throw it up on stage at graduation was real memorable for my peers,” he told Channel 2 Friday during a Zoom interview. “I was like, ‘I gotta go out with a bang here!’ Go big or go home!”

As the crowd cheered him on, police moved in, detaining Marrs before releasing him to his parents.

“They didn’t charge me,” he said. “I wasn’t arrested either.

Channel 2 reached out to the school district and a spokesperson sent the following statement regarding the incident:

“The incident occurred at the end of the program and, other than a slight delay did not impact the ceremony. We are proud of the graduates at Langston Hughes High and celebrate their accomplishments.”

Marrs was only 17 when he signed last year with Quality Control Music, making him the youngest artist on the Atlanta-based record label, which also represents Migos, Lil Baby and City Girls.

Since Sunday’s incident, Marrs has been in the studio, working on his new mixtape and preparing for his first live show of the year, which is scheduled for June 26 at The Loft.

He’s also preparing to make another generous donation through The Loners Foundation, which will hand out the $10K Rainy Day Fund scholarship.

TRENDING STORIES:

“The valedictorian gets $5K and the salutatorian gets $5k too,” he said. “They can do whatever they want with the money. They can pay for their books for college or tuition.”

Marrs credits his parents for raising him to understand how important it is to invest in his community.

Marrs is also excited about the release of his new album, Popular Loner, which is scheduled to be released on June 18.