Oakland Rapper Keak Da Sneak Uses a Wheelchair After Being Targeted in a Shooting

Keak Da Sneak was open about his new outlook on life in 2019 after he was released from prison. The return home was the culmination of several years of turmoil for the Oakland rapper, who was imprisoned in 2017 after being charged with illegally possessing a firearm.

Keak, who was born Charles Kente Williams, is also in a wheelchair now. Many fans remember Keak and know that that wasn't always the case, which has led them to wonder what happened.

Keak wound up in a wheelchair after surviving a pair of shootings in 2017. After the first shooting, he began to carry a gun for protection. That's what ultimately led to the firearm charge. While he was on trial for that charge, Keak was targeted in a second shooting and was hit eight times. After that shooting, he fell into a coma for three days and was ultimately paralyzed.

Following his release from prison a few years after the shooting, Keak said that he still has severe, persistent pain in his lower body every day. In spite of that, though, he said he was happy to be alive.

"I'm just so blessed, I'm happy, I'm free," he said during an interview with KPIX 5. "God works in mysterious ways, I think He just wanted me to see how fast you can throw your life away, or throw your freedom away."

Keak credited a change.org petition with helping him to get the medical care that he needed while he was in prison.

"I had my own cell, as far as on the medical level, they did," he said. "They was there for me. As far as my pain medication ... they wasn't really giving me no meds for pain [sic]."

Doctors say they aren't sure whether the rapper will ever walk again, but that hasn't lessened Keak's belief.

"This chair is going out the door, so my fans can look forward to me walking," he said. "I need a lot of support."

He also added that dedication is what ultimately leads to success.

"Hard work and dedication, and there ain't nothing but drama on the street after midnight, so with that being said, be indoors."

In more recent years, Keak has managed to stay entirely on the right side of the law and has kept a relatively low profile. That may be in part because he's spending more time with his wife, who he's been married to for almost 20 years, and the four children they share together.

Keak has been sharing hints that he may be dropping new music soon, and fans should look forward to that. In the meantime, though, it seems Keak has remained upbeat, positive, and grateful to have survived everything that he's been through in the last decade.