Rest In Power Rammellzee, 1960-2010. Shotgun in one hand, mic in the other – there will never be another.
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I just found out that Markey Fresh, aka ‘The Mack of Rap’ passed away on the 15th of May, 2010 after suffering a stroke. Best remembered for his 45 King theme song ‘The King Is Here’ and his classic promos for Kool DJ Red Alert, he released the memorable single ‘The Mack of Rap’ on Jive Records in 1989, and an EP on The 45 King’s label in 1993. I was fortunate enough to interview Markey in February, and he really seemed to enjoy the feedback from everybody after all these years, as he made sure to respond to everyone’s questions in the comment section of the article and soon became a regular in the comment section of Unkut Dot Com. Markey recently emailed me expressing an interest in recording some new music and possibly releasing it through the site, and had left a comment here as recently as May 7, which makes the news of his death even more unexpected, as he had never mentioned any health problems. A sad loss for fans of dope New Jersey hip-hop.

Rest In Peace, Markey Fresh….The Mack of Rap.

Markey Fresh – The Unkut Interview

Markey Fresh - ‘The Mack of Rap’

The 45 King feat. Markey Fresh - ‘The King Is Here’

Phillip ‘Prime Minister’ Mlynar explains why Rest In Peace is not the word to play.

Mourn you ’til I join you? Not in the spit-on-the-grave world of rap. Guru‘s passing has shown once more than when it comes to death, hip-hop has no idea how to handle itself with dignity and grace. Being a legendary rapper and part of one of hip-hop’s most beloved groups didn’t stop the ex-Gang Starr man from being pronounced dead on Twitter when he wasn’t, having a soap-opera-style drama unfold in the wake of his death, and seeing his life ‘celebrated’ by a stream of rubbish, pixelated YouTube videos. But that’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to hip-hop deaths. Why? Here’s five starters…
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J-Love‘s tribute to Sha Lumi is now available on iTunes. Track listing after the jump.
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This is how it should be done…

Diaz Brothers feat. Soni - ‘Gone Too Soon’

The Elam family wishes to thank the fans of our son/brother/father uncle/nephew/cousin Keith aka GURU for the outpouring of love, concern and support.

Our hearts are broken by the loss of someone we loved so much. GURU was devoted to his young son, who will most keenly feel his absence.

GURU suffered from multiple myeloma for over a year. Accrued complications from this illness led to respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. As a result, GURU was in a coma from mid February until his death and never regained consciousness. Early on the morning of April 19th, he became hypertensive due to low blood pressure. He again went into cardiac arrest and slipped away from us.

GURU died far too young but he was, and we are, proud of all his many legendary musical contributions.

The family is not aware of any foundations established by GURU. We know and understand that countless fans want to express their condolences and love and, to that end, we are planning a memorial event in the near future that will be all-inclusive. Please look for further details from the family as they become available.

GURU Tribute on Tony Touch’s Radio Show

Mr. Cee’s GURU Tribute Mix

Respect Due To The GURU

This is fucked the fuck up. I can’t add anything to the piece I wrote in March other than to say Rest In Peace Keith Elam…a true Master of the Ceremony. I can still remember the first time I heard the ‘Positivity’ remix on the radio….

Visionary or snake-oil salesman? Regardless, the Duck Rock album was very influential in it’s day on the strength of ‘Buffalo Gals’ and ‘World’s Famous’ and the Would Ya Like More Scratchin’ EP, largely thanks to the great work of producer Trevor Horn and The World Famous Supreme Team (See Divine the Mastermind and Justice Allah the Superstar).

DJ Modesty from France just put together this comprehensive tribute mix for Sha Lumi.

DJ Modesty presents :

Killa Sha “Rest In Peace”

A Tribute to the One & Only Killa Sha (Shalumi, Prince Ad, Killa Kids…) A Special Real Hip Hop Show with 2 Hours of his music. This Mixtape is Dedicated to his memory, for his family, Friends & fans. REST IN PEACE my Kings From Queens homie.

The tracklist is available (Front, inside & Back Cover)
+ an Exclusive Interview of Killa Sha by Modesty (2007-2008) & All the 38 Joints separated + the Full Mix:

DJ Modesty – Killa Sha ‘Rest In Peace’ Mixtape

Another dedication to Sha Lumi, courtesy of IM3‘s Ty Nitty. Produced by Shroom.

Ty Nitty - ‘R.I.P. Killa Sha’

Photo: Alexander Richter

Finishing up the tributes to Sha Lumi, here are some memories of the man and his music from his good friends J-Love, DJ Phantom, Thorotracks and DJ Peter Parker.

UPDATE: Added a quote from Ayatollah.

J-Love: It was maybe 2000 or so when I was doin’ the old Stretch & Bobitto Show – me and Lord Sear took over when Bob and Stretch left. Sear and Killa Sha were always real close, so he started coming to the show and we just clicked and we built from there. It was funny too, ‘cos you know I’m the kind of cat I snap on a lotta niggas – I don’t really give a fuck. So he went at me first – we was on the air, he called me, ‘Jason Giambi’ or some funny shit. I was like, ‘Yeah? Nigga, you look like a rapping Webster!’ We just always had that chemistry, that bond. We could just joke around, have fun – lock you in and make some banging music. He was a worker like me – he was the type like, ‘Yo, son, let’s bang this out’. Sha was like money. Writin’ a verse on the spot, goin’ in, knock it out in one or two takes. He definitely had his craft mastered. I feel like Sha was one of the nicest cats outta Queensbridge that just got overlooked, because he wasn’t ‘industry popular’ or whatever. That nigga was motherfuckin’ perfectionist, too. He would be in the booth ‘till he gets it right. I might have a hundred songs with Killa Sha that people never even heard yet.
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Smiley just recorded this heart-felt tribute to Sha Lumi. Props to Ammo GIT.

Smiley The Ghetto Child - ‘Close Ya Eyes’ (R.I.P. Killa Sha)

Late last week I was contacted by DJ Phantom – who it turns out was Sha Lumi’s right-hand man in the music game – and I was fortunate enough to have him share some stories about Sha. For those of you not familiar with Phantom’s resume, he’s been involved in the mixtape game heavily for years, and was responsible for bringing the world the debut mixtapes from artists such as Consequence (Take ‘Em To The Cleansers), Saigon (Warning Shots), Trife Da God and Streetlife to name a few. Here’s here’s the Killa Sha story according to Phantom:

DJ Phantom: Killa Sha was more than my friend – that was like my brother. I met Sha in ’99 through Trag, ‘cos that’s when I started working with Trag. Trag told me to come to Power Play Studios and I said, ‘Yo, I wanna meet Killa Sha’. He’s said, ‘Why you wanna meet Sha for?’ I said, ‘Cos the nigga’s the nastiest outta your whole group!’ I’m imaging Killa Sha to be some 6’2”, tall-ass dude from Queensbridge…I get to the studio, he calls me and goes, ‘Yo, Sha’s here, yo, so let’s get up’. So I go to the control room, open the door and I say, ‘Yo, where’s Sha at?’ He says, ‘Sha’s in the lounge.’ So I’m in the lounge room, chilling out, and I see mad people in there. So I go back into the control room like, ‘Yo, I don’t know who Sha is, man’. So Trag brings me back in the lounge room and says, ‘Yo, Sha! Come over here!’ So I see this 5’5” dude come next to me, and I look at Trag and I say, ‘You aren’t Killa Sha, son!’ He’s like, ‘Son! I’m Killa Sha, son! I’m Killa Sha!’ I’m like, ‘Word? Son, you my nigga!’ He started laughing, then Trag is like, ‘I’ll be in the control room, see you guys later’. From there, me and him became friends.
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Apache, a founding member of the original Flavor Unit and cousin of Latee has passed away after years of poor health. Lord Ali Ba-Ski discussed his unfortunate condition a couple of years ago:

‘Apache is on permanent disability now. He has a bruised heart. He got his bruised heart from when he was with that label [Tommy Boy] and making all that good money, ‘cos Apache got the biggest shine – not including Naughty By Nature and Latifah and all the rest of ‘em – but as far as the original Flavor Unit cats? He got the biggest shine outta all of us, as far as money. I mean he had a $250,000 budget with his label, see. And Apache did show after show after show. He was getting triple what Chill Rob was getting for a show. He used to get anywhere from 7 G’s to 20 G’s a show! He went through some money. This guy used to get so high and drunk – his whole thing was a big ‘ol party. Then he bloated all the way up to 300 and something pounds, and mind you he’s like only 5′9″, 5′10″. He blew up to 300 pounds and the guys almost bed-ridden from getting so big, and then he went up and down.’

Another sad loss for the hip-hop community…
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Photo: Alexander Richter

In case you’re not familiar with Killa Sha‘s legacy for some reason, here’s a quick run-down of his history in the rap game:

Prince A.D. was a true student of the rap game. When he was eleven, he was down with The Super Kids – a group of young upstarts put together by Marley Marl which featured Tragedy and Craig G. He wasn’t rapping at this stage, just hanging out with his boys. Years later he applied his quickly developing skills as a DJ to help out his friend from school Havoc and his rhyme partner Prodigy, who had just started a group called the Poetical Prophets. After winning ‘Unsigned Hype’ in The Source magazine and landing a deal with 4th & Broadway, they changed their name to Mobb Deep and recorded Juvenile Hell. DJ Prince A.D. performed the scratches on the album and spun for them at live shows.
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