According to a spokesman from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, DJ and producer Squeak, a member of Chicago’s Pivot Gang alongside rapper Saba, was shot and assassinated in Chicago on Monday. The 26-year-old, who was born Javunte Wheeler, leaves a bereft community of artists, friends, and family members, including a daughter.
While other Pivot Gang members such as Saba, Joseph Chilliams, Squeak’s older brother Frsh Waters, and MFn Melo rap, Squeak worked as an in-house producer, with his gloomy approach frequently characterised by dreamy, calm soundscapes, even at its most upbeat. His debut album, En Route, a collaboration with MFn Melo, was released in June. When Frsh Waters was imprisoned in the early 2010s, Melo and Squeak formed a strong friendship. Squeak also helped produce Pivot Gang’s You Can’t Sit With Us in 2019 and Saba’s breakout album Bucket List Project.
Squeak told The Triibe in Chicago that he just started making music when Frsh Waters invited him to join his group. When he realized the group needed a DJ, he became one. Chance the Rapper and Fake Shore Drive’s Andrew Barber are among the Chicago musicians and music insiders who have paid respect to Squeak on Twitter.
Two members of the Pivot Gang have now been killed in a violent death. Dinnerwithjohn, who also recorded as John Walt, is featured on Squeak’s En Route. Walt was stabbed to death in 2017 when he was 24 years old. Saba’s 2018 album Care For Me is a powerful response to this loss.
Pivot Gang, founded by Chilliams and Frsh Waters, dropped their first mixtape in 2013. Their name comes from a scene in Friends in which some of the main characters are attempting to push a couch up narrow apartment stairs (“Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!” Ross yells). According to Saba, the name serves as a reminder of progress and optimism.
