Rest In Power Stay High 149

When someone of note passes away you are more likely to find out via social media before you actually read the official news headline. Such was the case with finding out that Stay High 149 had recently passed away.

I saw a picture of his famous "Saint" character with the words "Rest In Peace" suddenly appear in my Instagram feed and I knew that it must be true. I never met Stay High 149 or Wayne to those that knew him well, but I know a handful of people that had and they always said he was a real nice dude.

Stay High's work wasn't a huge personal favorite of mine or anything, but I always considered him to be like a living mascot for writing as a whole. His simple tag and character could be used for official logo for graffiti if it were to ever have one.

The dude was 62 when he passed away. I haven't read any single blog tribute that has really pointed out how unique that makes his work. A 62 year old man that still wrote graffiti. Less than 1% of people who participate in writing graffiti will probably ever continue to do so to that old of an age. I could even go a step further by pointing out that he really built his entire notoriety solely on tags. This makes him a part of an even smaller group of writers since most writers more often than not concentrate their efforts on pieces.

I am not going to attempt to give a history lesson on the dude since most of what I know about him is readily available on tons of websites and written by people that actually did know him. If you take away anything from his work it should be that if you want to become a legend in your craft do it well, do it everyday, be a nice person, and you will most likely make an impact in your lifetime.

  

RIP Winston Riley

Winston Riley was shot in the head at his home in Jamaica in November of last year. He eventually passed away on January 19th.

Winston produced so many good songs it would be impossible to really even cover them all.

But I think "Ring The Alarm" is probably his most important tune.

Run it.


LargeUp has a nice tribute up with 10 of his best productions.

Never Forget

Bernie Mac > most humans

Rest In Peace

This happened and oh yeah I stubbed my toe really bad this morning.

Those were two things that happened today.

Rest In Peace Risto Benji

Beenieman & Risto Benji - It's A Wonder (1994) by dancehallsource

I have a bunch of tapes where this little mother fucker would get on the mic and just start deejaying his ass off.

99% will give zero shits about this, but for anyone that likes 80's dancehall tapes its kind of a bummer.

Hip Hop Fail

I know I am kicking a dead dog in the dick with this one, but c'mon.

Most people are aware that Ross was a cop and that The Source hasn't been relevant since...ever, but what kind of world are we living in where someone who legitimately contributed to a genre for more than a decade (Guru) gets pt 12 type "props" instead of a cover?

And to add insult to injury in his place you put a dude who uses the name of one of the most famous cocaine dealers in history and was a fucking cop and not like some went to the academy and dropped out kind of a cop, but like a full on fucking pig. Do you know how much dirt you can do and still be allowed to become a cop? Fucking negative zero. You pretty much can not have a criminal record to even apply for that shit.

I'm not saying they should have some Guru Luther King Jr. Day or some shit, just fucking take one month out of the "rapcter" cover schedule and give the Guru some shine.

Here's some irony for you.

Had Rick Ross died of a heart attack you know without a doubt that motherfucker would be on the cover and there would be a ten page spread detailing his massive 3 album catalogue.

The Source < Complex < a dog's pussy

Mikey Dread "Armagiddeon Style"

Big dubbed out tune by Mikey.



After that run this little face melter

Mikey Dread "Heavy Weight Sound (Dub)"

Rest In Peace Big L

11 years ago today Big L was shot and killed near his home in Harlem, NY.

This clip is the often slept on part 2 of his famous freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito Show.

And I quote:

"You got fucked up state/You cupcake/How many dicks can yo butt take?"

"I was fuckin chicks in the ass/when I was six and a half."

That shit is funny I don't care what anyone says.

Yabby You Meets Michael Prophet

Yabby You all week.

You're going to have to deal with it.

Yabby You

It has become pretty cliche to do a "R.I.P" or "Tribute" post on a blog for deceased musicians/artists/whoever, but some people resonate enough with me that I think it is totally valid to drop one even if you didn't know them personally. I mean honoring the loss of life can't get "played" out can it?

I hope not.

Yabby You a.k.a Yabby U a.k.a Vivian Jackson was by far my favorite roots artist. That is saying a lot for someone that has been obsessively listening to the music for 15 years.

I'm not going to do some huge bio of the dude's life you can read that HERE.

I will however put you on to my favorite tunes.

4 Yabby You Albums
* Need to upload "Jesus Dread" myself, but still some heavy tunes on this link



I would start with this "Yabby You "Jesus Dread 1972-1977" Two-Disc

This covers most of his best works and also has everyone you could imagine in the studio with him at in their collective primes such as: Dillinger, Trinity, Tapper Zukie, King Tubby, Wayne Wade and Big Youth. The Tubby versions are MANDATORY listening. Yabby's lyrics compliment the haunting armageddon-esq tunes so well it should be a crime. These versions really give you a good feel of what versions should sound like: rougher, heavier, and dubbier. (I know that is not a word)

If you're looking for his vinyl make sure you check for the name Vivian Jackson as he wasn't really called Yabby You in print as much. Even though that is his most known nom de plume.

I would challenge even the most hesitant roots listener to try Yabby You. Even my friends that rank on me for liking reggae will fuck with this 2 disc. Usually while being all spleefed out in a van, but they end up always asking me "Who is this again?" when it's playing in the car.

I've been lucky enough to see many of the roots artists that I have wanted to see live unfortunately I never got to see Yabby play. If anyone has dubplates or tribute mixes in the works please feel free to forward them on in the comments.

Again, rest in peace to one of the best roots musicians of all time.

Now we haffi' run one the hardest tunes ever cut: "Conquering Lion" riddim

Rest In Peace Yabby You

I just read that my favorite roots artist Yabby You recently passed away.

I will get together some tunes for a proper post.

2010 is off and running I guess.

RIP DJ Khaled

Sad news struck the hip-hop world earlier this week when it was reported that world renowned rap personality DJ Khaled was found dead in his home in Miami. The rap icon had fatally slipped on a banana peel while chasing his pet Maltise who he affectionately named Khaled Khaled.

The rap community at large recently mourned their fallen comrade at a private funeral which was held in the Dade County area close to Miami just yesterday. Miami was where the infamous rap impresario called home.

Many of the patrons spoke about the sudden passing to some of the press that respectfully waited outside the property.

"The funeral was da best," said Eric Sharron (Khaled's 17 year old nephew)"Like for real everything was da best. The service was da best. The appetizers was da best. The coffin was da best. It was how like Khaled would have done it if he was ya know, alive."

Even singer/songwriter Akon attended the service and took the time out to comment on his close friend "It's tough man when you lose one of your friends like this. I started reminiscing about the first time Khaled used the word "nigga" on wax (laughs). Right after he yelled it he looked up all scared, but we just laughed cuz' we all knew he didn't really mean it cuz you know he was like Middle Eastern and ay'thing."

The forty two car procession that ended the hour long service was a sight to be seen said many of those who were in attendance. Numerous and extremely exquisite automobiles paraded down in single file for nearly 25 miles of road that led back to Miami. Of course all of the vehicles had the windows down so that on lookers and lucky enough bystanders could hear the dramatic urban melodies of Khaled's music pouring from the cars. Ed-Note* by "music" we mean music that he didn't produce per say, but music that he paid to have made then got someone famous to rap over and then he released, so I mean really it's pretty much his music. Plus you factor in all the shouting and all the "we da bests" and you end up with a catalog of rap that is nearly unparalleled by any non-rapper or non-producer in the history of the genre.



He was only 35.

Michael Jackson RIP

I swear on my life I tried my hardest to not post anything about Jacko, but c'mon.

How am I supposed to just let Killa Corey Feldman at the memorial slide by without a post? I'm debating on whether he is paying tribute or trying to be incognito.


Links:
More Corey

Iz The Wiz

Iz The Wiz Rest In Power.

Rest In Power: Bernie Mac

Bernie Mac (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008)

As most people heard we lost Bernie Mac over the weekend.

First Carlin and now Bernie Mac, wait it for it cause bad things come in 3's.

I'm actually quite bummed about Mac's passing. He still had so many great roles ahead of him that surely would have been hilarious.

For the younger crowd you may not be familiar with his old material from the Def Comedy Jam days, but Mac was quite possibly the one of the most talented comedians to ever set foot on the infamous stage.

Some of my favorite Mac roles:

Above The Rim = killed by 2Pac
Friday = Pastor Clever
Life = Jangle Leg
The Original Kings of Comedy = a.k.a Milk N Cookies
Bad Santa
Ocean's Eleven


See below if you have doubts.