In the wake of several significant deaths in the hip hop community this week, and since the news section is full, it seems appropriate that Voice Leisure do our part to properly memorialize the recently deceased. What do we here at the Voice have to offer that somewhat more reputable news sources such as the New York Times, CNN, and The Hoya haven’t already said? In a word: historical perspective.
Russell Jones (a.k.a. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt, Osirus, Joe Bannanas, Dirt Dog and Big Baby Jesus), 1969 to 2004
Jones founded the Wu-Tang Clan in 1992 with fellow rapper GZA, and managed to achieve the true honor of being the absolute weirdest MC in a collective based around the intersection of New York street life and kung-fu culture. Wu-Tang’s Enter the 36 Chambers is a certifiable rap classic, and O.D.B.’s Return to the 36 Chambers, which spawned the hit single “Brooklyn Zoo,” remains one of the finest solo efforts that any of the group members released. Jones’s distinctive and hilarious flow, a sort of deranged-lounge-singer-cum-totally-insane-person, combined with his erratic behaviour, earned him a reputation for trouble. His hobbies included hard drugs, shoplifting, crashing the Grammys and parole. His passing is a major blow to the reunited Wu-Tang Clan and rap fans everywhere. Shimmy shimmy ya.
Yasir Arafat (a.k.a. Abu Amar, the anti-Semitic Sisyphus, the Perseus of Palestine, and Satan’s 3 o’clock), 1929 to 2004
Arafat founded the anti-Israel organization Fatah in 1957 with Salah Khalaf and Khalil Wazir. The pioneering group had little success in its early years, but Arafat’s sick spitting and leadership of the so-called “mad ones,” an inner-faction of the collective, propelled him to leadership of the PLO. The group has dominated the Palestinean rap/terrorist scene since 1966, an impressive run for such a violent, devisive group. Though there seemed to be a decline in their later years, early material such as “Protect ya Shack” and “Tribe in the Front” was revolutionary in the early ‘70s. The groups last big success came with the 1994 cross-over hit collaboration with legendary DJ/MC team of Shimon P. & Yitzak, which earned all members involved the Nobel Prize, though they were cheated out of their rightful Grammy on a technicality. Though solo projects have always been important to the members, Arafat focused more on holding the group together and embezzling huge amounts of money than his own solo career. His passing leaves the future of the group as a whole, not to mention the anti-Zionist in general, in doubt. He lived, in his own words: “P.L.O. style, hazardous, cause I wreck this.”
Sasha the Hamster (a.k.a. Brown-Nosa’, Pimp-Squeek), Sept. 2004-Nov. 2004
Sasha made up for his tiny size with an absolutely monstorous flow. A Russian Dwarf hamster, smallest of all the household mammals, Sasha was able to redefine the West Coast brand of hamster-funk over the last month and a half. Though he will be best remembered for his role in the marketing campaign for the Beastie Boys’ most recent album, Sasha was widely regarded as the next big thing in the underground.
Almost always accompanied by his overweight but quick-pawed DJ, Winston the Beatmaster, Sasha was unstoppable on the mic. Odds were strongly in his favor in the lightweight class for this year’s Scribble Jam, but he was found dead on the floor of his cage earlier this week by Claire Jolly (CAS ‘06). News of the death quickly spread throughout Henle Village.
“He was so young,” the bereft Jolly wailed. “The rap community has to come together to stop this perpetual violence against their own.”
Sasha’s untimely demise brings an end to his all-too-brief yet highly promising career. His complex rhyme structure and the vagaries surrounding his death (How was the body disposed of? Why was there no autopsy?) assures him a seat in the pantheon of the rap greats. A posthumous double-album is in the works.
Next week in Voice Obits: acclaimed jurists William Rehnquist, Bob Saget and the 13th Amendment of the Constitution
