Friends are identifying the man shot to death on Itasca Street on Thursday as Kenneth "Lil Kenny" Rowell, 25, of Dorchester.
Rowell started rapping when he was barely old enough for first grade. In 1999, New Edition and Bell Biv Devoe founder Michael Bivins picked Rowell as a member of a group of pre-14 rappers originally called Magnificent 7, then the Biv 10 Pee Wee All-Stars.