Two helicopters collided over the western zone of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday morning and fell into a car dealership, igniting roughly 20 electric cars and killing all six people aboard. One of them was Oliver Tree, the California singer-songwriter, who was 32. [1][2]

For a few hours, his fans refused to believe it. Tree had built a career on the staged stunt — the bowl haircut, the eight-foot scooter, the elaborately faked feuds — and the first reflex online was that the bulletin was one more bit. It was not. A police source told AFP that Tree was listed on the manifest of one of the aircraft, the victims too badly burned to identify at once. [2] He had performed in Buenos Aires on June 4 and, on Saturday, posted a video of himself playing football in a Brazilian neighborhood. [2]

What he leaves is an internet-native catalog, not a radio one. Tree began producing dubstep in the San Francisco Bay Area, signed to Atlantic Records in 2016, and found his audience on TikTok, where he had 15.4 million followers. "Life Goes On" was used in more than 3.7 million videos; "Miss You" in 1.5 million. [1] He died midway through the self-produced world tour for his fourth album, "Love You Madly, Hate You Badly," a run booked across seven continents. [1]

Melanie Martinez, who once dated Tree, posted a remembrance within hours. Atlantic Records and Warner Chappell Music called him "a gifted artist and songwriter who forged a thoroughly unique and captivating style." [1] The other five who died included a Brazilian music producer and the Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim. [2] The algorithm that made him is still serving his songs. The man who gamed it is gone.

-- LUCIA VEGA, São Paulo