I’m light skinned, I live in Queens…
For almost two decades, RUN-DMC broke down racial barriers, fused rock and rap, brought it to the streets and the suburbs, and put Hollis, Queens on the map.
Now one of them is gone.
He was a man of peace. A husband and a father of three.
Could have lived anywhere in the world, but he kept Queens as his home, because he was all about giving back to the community.
Like someone just posted in their memorial:
“Rap had just lost their first Beatle”
Rest in peace, Jam Master Jay. :0(
October 31st, 2002 at 10:59 am
Oh no,this is the first that I heard of him dying.What happened to him ?
October 31st, 2002 at 11:04 am
quote from the MTV article:
“If you love this hip-hop thing like I love this hip-hop thing, it’s a sad day,” Big Daddy Kane’s longtime DJ, Mr. Cee, urged as he fought back tears throughout Flex’s show. “This has to stop, not just in hip-hop, but all over. This violence is just crazy. It’s unreal.”
…not just in hip-hop, but all over. amen to that.
October 31st, 2002 at 11:22 am
And,Happy Halloween -e-
October 31st, 2002 at 3:31 pm
I just read about this in the paper. I was very sad to hear that he was gunned down. :o(
October 31st, 2002 at 3:42 pm
Big Daddy Kane… shit. There’s a name I thought I’d never hear again.
Chuck D of Public Enemy (who’s one hell of a web designer, I might add) was also just quoted as saying “They were *our* Beatles”.
RUN-DMC was always positive, they were never into that “thug/gangsta/pop-a-cap-in-yo-ass” bullshit… and I doubt Aerosmith would have ever made the comeback they did without them.
I am definitely interested in what the motives were & why JMJ was shot in the head, execution style. I initially figured Jamaica Queens (not a bad neighborhood, but you may not want to be there after dark), and it was two crackheads looking to steal studio equipment.
Funny story. In 1983, I’m playing some guitar riffs, and I suggested we do a rap song with some rock guitar behind it… my friends all said “That white boy shit would never work in rap!!!”
“Rock Box” came out six months later. I cried like a baby.
I could have been Rick Rubin. :0)
October 31st, 2002 at 7:07 pm
Just found out today that they sang with Aerosmith on Walk This Way…