Tragic final post by P2istheName saw YouTuber, 26, leaving LA for good just weeks before his body found in city
YOUTUBER P2istheName tragically spoke of leaving LA for good in one of his final videos – just weeks before his body was found in the city.
In the video, posted on February 21, the 26-year-old referred to his “last month in LA” – as he planned to move from his hometown to Atlanta.
But just weeks later, on March 14, the star was discovered dead in a mailroom, according the Los Angeles County Coroner.
A cause of death has not yet been revealed, as investigations continue into the shock event.
Speaking to his 3.8 million subscribers, P2istheName, whose real name was Philip Enewally, said he had outgrown the city.
He said: “I’m out of Los Angeles. I think it’s finally time. I’ve been here my whole life. I grew up here, raised, went to school, all that bro.
“And even with YouTube, I came up on YouTube in my dad’s house and have always been in that California base so I know everything, every corner, every up and down, everywhere to go.
“But one thing I’ve been feeling as of recently is that I feel like I’m in a place where I need to meet new people and I’m kind of outgrowing some people that I grew up with.
“Sometimes they say you’ve got to leave your hometown, you’ve got to leave your home city.
“I never got to experience that. I never went to college, where I went to Houston or DC. I’ve always been here.
“I want there to be an era of my life where I leave my comfort zone and leave Los Angeles and finally take a big leap and faith and I’m not comfortable.”
The star, who was known for his gaming videos, comedy skits and vlogs, then tragically spoke of setting an example to his future kids.
He added: “When I’m like 35, 36, I’m 26 years old right now, but when I’m older and I have kids one day, I want my kids to be able to talk to me and be like ‘yo daddy, I want to live here’ and I’ll be able to say, ‘don’t say that, that place is trash’.
“I want to be able to say ‘I lived here, I lived here, I lived here’, not just one place for the rest of my life.
“I feel like when you’re able to experience more things, you’re able to have more wisdom.”
Philip had recently launched his streetwear brand DontMindUs – and hoped to meet like-minded entrepreneurs in his new home of Atlanta.
Elsewhere in the video, he can be seen surrounded by parcels, waiting to be taken to the post office.
He added: “LA is very saturated. There’s a lot people that live in LA… You’re gonna find a lot of people with daddy’s money.
“I want to meet like-minded people, who have the same mindset as me as an entrepreneur.”
Heartbreaking tributes
The Youtuber’s mom confirmed her son’s passing to TMZ – and requested privacy on behalf of the family.
She also encouraged fans to visit his channel, which has around four million subscribers, to honour his memory.
Tributes also flooded in for the star from fans and fellow YouTubers.
Taking to Instagram, fellow YouTuber Coletheman wrote: “My good friend @P2istheName has passed away… wow.
“I’m honestly at a loss for words. He was always so kind to me and gave me so much content creation advice.
“May he rest in peace. This breaks my heart.”
Other fans shared their support, with one writing: “This man was my childhood, I still can’t believe it’s is real. May he rest in peace.”
Another wrote: “Never been touched by a celebrity’s death like this one.”
Philip rose to fame with videos of himself playing NBA 2K and Fortnite, before expanding to general explainers of popular video games, dubbed “Let’s Plays”.
Aside from gaming, he gave fans a glimpse into his personal life with vlogs showing “a day in the life of a young black millionaire” in L.A.
In his most recent Instagram post on February 19, he was seen loading DontMindUs parcels into a van – while posing in a red and black jersey from the brand.
In another slide in the same post, he appeared to be in a mailroom or shipping facility, surrounded by inventory.
He had been vocal about his passion for the brand, writing a few days previously: “The journey keeps getting better. @dontmindus all year. Thank U God.”
Philip’s videos once reached millions of viewers – with some boasting more than 13 million.
However, viewership had dwindled over recent years to around 20,000 to 60,000 views – with Philip opening up about feeling “lost” on the platform.