RIP: GURU

I got no words, if you loved Hip-Hop like I did growing up then you already know.




According to Yo! Raps, Guru penned this letter to fans, explaining his illness while in the hospital with terminal cancer. Read it below in its entirety: - Ballerstatus
I, Guru, am writing this letter to my fans, friends and loved ones around the world. I have had a long battle with cancer and have succumbed to the disease. I have suffered with this illness for over a year. I have exhausted all medical options. I have a non-profit organization called Each One Counts dedicated to carrying on my charitable work on behalf of abused and disadvantaged children from around the world and also to educate and research a cure for this terrible disease that took my life. I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting. My loyal best friend, partner and brother, Solar, has been at my side through it all and has been made my health proxy by myself on all matters relating to myself. He has been with me by my side on my many hospital stays, operations, doctors visits and stayed with me at my home and cared for me when I could not care for myself. Solar and his family is my family and I love them dearly and I expect my family, friends, and fans to respect that, regardless to anybody's feelings on the matter. It is my wish that counts. This being said I am survived by the love of my life, my sun KC, who I trust will be looked after by Solar and his family as their own. Any awards or tributes should be accepted, organized approved by Solar on behalf myself and my son until he is of age to except on his own. I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death. Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ. As the sole founder of GangStarr, I am very proud of what GangStarr has meant to the music world and fans. I equally am proud of my Jazzmatazz series and as the father of Hip-Hop/Jazz. I am most proud of my leadership and pioneering efforts on Jazzmatazz 4 for reinvigorating the Hip-Hop/Jazz genre in a time when music quality has reached an all time low. Solar and I have toured in places that I have never been before with GangStarr or Jazzmatatazz and we gained a reputation for being the best on the planet at Hip-Hop/Jazz, as well as the biggest and most influential Hip-Hop/Jazz record with Jazzmatazz 4 of the decade to now. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time. And we as a team were not afraid to push the envelope. To me this is what true artists do! As men of honor we stood tall in the face of small mindedness, greed, and ignorance. As we fought for music and integrity at the cost of not earning millions and for this I will always be happy and proud, and would like to thank the million fans who have seen us perform over the years from all over the world. The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.
R.I.P GURU!

RIP Nikki Harris of Indigo Trail Of My Thoughts

My condolences to Nikki's family and I know she has finally has some peace.

I regret not having the opportunity to meet her in person, if she was half as wonderful as she was on her blog than I missed out on having a really good friend.

The great thing about bloggers is that you can really tell by there writing how a person looks on the inside as well on the outside.

Nikki was beautiful inside and out and it showed like a light.

It saddens me that I didn't get the chance to warm my self in her light.

God Bless Her.

R.I.P. Ted Kennedy

An icon gone.

RIP Naomi Sims

RIP Vernon Forrest

Boxing has a special spot in my heart when it comes to sports so when I hear things like this it cuts a little deeper.

I followed Vernon's career since he was an Atlanta native and watched his professional highs in wines over Sugar Shane Mosely, and lows in his loss to Ricardo Mayorga.

It hurts even more since the man gave back to the community with his Destiny's Child charity which assisted mentally challenged adults, another sticking point for me.

He will be missed.

This marks the third time in less than a two months that an athlete has died by violence and all of it was preventable on their part.

Vernon didn't have to chase those thugs but for what ever reason he did and now his community will be robbed of his light for it.

He will be missed, my condolences to his family.

R.I.P Arturo Gatti

Another great one goes out before his time, and under sad circumstances as well.

Boxing can be give and take some times but you knew you were always going to get your money's worth with Gatti, one of the best.

ESPN

Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas early Saturday.

Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his hotel room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.

R.I.P. Miriam Makeba

I was a fan of this woman's work as well, my prayers to her and her family.

London
Miriam Makeba, a South African singer whose voice stirred hopes of freedom among millions in her own country though her music was formally banned by the apartheid authorities she struggled against, died overnight after performing at a concert in Italy on Sunday. She was 76.

The cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to Vincenza Di Saia, a physician at the private Pineta Grande clinic in Castel Volturno near Naples in southern Italy, where she was brought by ambulance. The time of death was listed in hospital records as midnight, the doctor said


From Wikipedia

Miriam Zenzi Makeba was born in Johannesburg in 1932. Her mother was a Swazi sangoma and her father, who died when she was six, was a Xhosa. As a child, she sang at the Kilmerton Training Institute in Pretoria, which she attended for eight years.

Makeba first toured with an amateur group. Her professional career began in the 1950s with the Manhattan Brothers, before she formed her own group, The Skylarks, singing a blend of jazz and traditional melodies of South Africa.

In 1959, she performed in the musical King Kong alongside Hugh Masekela, her future husband. Though she was a successful recording artist, she was only receiving a few dollars for each recording session and no provisional royalties, and was keen to go to the US. Her break came when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary Come Back, Africa in 1959 by independant filmmaker Lionel Rogosin. She attended the premiere of the film at the Venice Film Festival.

Makeba then travelled to London where she met Harry Belafonte, who assisted her in gaining entry to and fame in the United States. She released many of her most famous hits there including "Pata Pata", "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika". In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

She discovered that her South African passport was revoked when she tried to return there in 1960 for her mother's funeral. In 1963, after testifying against apartheid before the United Nations, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. She has had nine passports, [4] and was granted honorary citizenship of ten countries.[5]

Her marriage to Trinidadian civil rights activist and Black Panthers leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 caused controversy in the United States, and her record deals and tours were cancelled. As a result of this, the couple moved to Guinea, where they became close with President Ahmed Sékou Touré and his wife. Makeba separated from Carmichael in 1973, and continued to perform primarily in Africa, South America and Europe. She was one of the African and Afro-American entertainers at the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaïre. Makeba also served as a Guinean delegate to the United Nations, for which she won the Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize in 1986.






Miriam Makeba - Amampondo


Miriam Makeba - Oxgam {Studio Version}

R.I.P. Madelyn Dunham (Obama's Grandmother)

My prayers to the Obama family for the loss of some one so dear to heart.

HONOLULU – Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86. Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died peacefully late Sunday night after a battle with cancer.
They said: "She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances."
Obama learned of her death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He planned to go ahead with campaign appearances. The family said a private ceremony would be held later.

Last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with Dunham as her health declined.

RIP: Rudy Ray Moore (March 17, 1927 - October 19, 2008)

Moore died Sunday evening at an Akron nursing home from complications of diabetes

Another one of my favorites has passed on to the big party in the sky, reminding me of my own mortality.

I loved his movies and I loved him for introducing me to The Signifyin' Monkey.



R.I.P. Mr. Dolomite.

From Wikipedia,

Moore began his entertainment career as an R&B singer and continued singing through his comedy career. He developed an interest in comedy in the Army after expanding on a singing performance for other servicemen.[1]

Rudy Ray Moore released many comedy records throughout the 1960s and 1970s, developing a style even more rude and explicit than contemporaries like Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor. This kept him off of television and major films, but cultivated an enduring fan base.

He also guested on Big Daddy Kane's album Taste of Chocolate, released in 1990.

Moore starred in Big Money Hustlas, a movie created by and starring the Insane Clown Posse, in which he played Dolemite for the first time in over 20 years.

In 2008 Rudy Ray Moore reprised the character Petey Wheatstraw for the song "I live for the Funk" Featuring Blowfly and Daniel Jordan. This marked the first time Blowfly and Rudy have collaborated on the same record together, and the 30 year anniversary since the movie was filmed.

R.I.P. Isaac Hayes

What the hell is going on?!

This one really hurts, Mr. Hayes' music is part of my "take the drawers off" CD.

I got Truck Turner and Escape From New York which he stole the show.

This one really hurts, I never got to see him in person.

Man I hope this a Joke.

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American soul and funk singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer and actor. Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served as both an in-house songwriter and producer with partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s, Hayes became a recording artist, and recorded successful soul albums such as Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and Black Moses (1971) as the Stax label's premier artist.

Alongside his work in popular music, Hayes was a film score composer for motion pictures. His best known work, for the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft, earned Hayes an Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first Academy Award received by an African-American in a non-acting category) and two Grammy Awards. He received a third Grammy for the album Black Moses.

In 1992, in recognition of his humanitarian work, he was crowned an honorary king of Ghana's Ada district. From 1997 to 2006, he provided the voice for the character "Chef" on the Comedy Central animated TV series South Park.

Hayes was found dead in his Memphis home on August 10, 2008 as reported by the Shelby County, Tennessee Sheriff’s department. A Shelby County sheriff's deputy responded to Hayes' home after his wife found him on the floor near a treadmill inside his home. Hayes was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08pm.His death came 10 days before his 66th birthday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes


Walk on By



The look of Love (live) 1973

R.I.P. Bernie Mac Oct. 5, 1957- Aug 9 2008

CHICAGO - Bernie Mac, the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and comedian who worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side, died Saturday at age 50.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080809/ap_on_en_mo/obit_bernie_mac

R.I.P: George Carlin The hippest white dude ever.

1937-2008

I awlays had a soft spot for the rebels, George was one the best, he fueled a lot of my distaste for the establishment with his humor and social commentary.

Another star plucked out of the sky this year.

R.I.P: Bo Diddley December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008

Man I did not see this one coming at all.

It's easy to take people even legends for grant it, you dont go to the concerts or buy the music because in your mind you think there always going to be there, than you wake up and there gone.

And you never get a chance to say thanks for the sounds.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

He was 79.

Critics say he was the bridge between blues and Rock n Roll and if you listen to his music you can see why.

I know Heaven is rocking hard tonight.

R.I.P.

Diego "Chico" Corrales.

Gone to soon.

PFC Lavena Johnson

I remember signing the petition about this young soldier about 2 months ago I guess nothing has come about it. This video will tell you what happened she deserved better than that.

RIP: Kanye West’s Mother

Mr. West mother has recently passed on. I can not imagine how that feels or put in the right words. My condolences to his family.