ROC RAIDA REST IN POWER YOUNG HOMIE WE LOVE YOU
I haven’t been able to bring myself to right anything significant about Raida’s passing much like AM’s or my dear friend Andy Kessler it’s taking me a second to come to terms with how I feel about his leaving us. I have been reflecting on the topic for a few days and besides feeling as mortal as I ever have and after going to his very sad memorial today I feel like it’s time for me to eulogize my friend as best I can:
Raida was an incredibly humble cat. He was a warm friendly person and someone it took a sec to get to know being that he was a pretty quiet cat. Once you got to know Raida it became apparent relatively quickly that he was an original and unique kind of person, one who possessed an amazing sense of humor, a brilliant smile and gentleness about him you don’t see very often. He lit up a room when he entered it and was just a truly wonderful cat. I can’t think of one person in the whole world who could say a bad thing about the man and that’s the gods honest.
Raida also was for all sense and purposes one of the greatest turntablist who ever touched the decks. His influence as a DJ may have been even bigger than his career so to speak. He influenced every turntablist of merit deeply. His many DJ videos were almost biblical to each and every tunrtabilist I have ever known. He quite simply earned his name GRANDMASTER ROC RAIDA that was bestowed upon him by Grandmaster’s Cas and Flash amongst others. He held a direct lineage to the roots of the art we call hiphop yet remained eternally relevant as a DJ/Turntablist working with the likes of Busta Rhymes the last few as well years as well as having served as touring DJ for the likes of my friend Sadat X, DITC, Smif and Wessun, ShowBiz and AG and countless others over the years. In addition he worked on records for people as diverse as Everlast, Kool G Rap, Big Pun, and Showbiz and AG amongst many many others. He was also a founding member of the legendary X-Men and later the Executioners the only Turntablists to ever score a hit song and gold record (It’s going down ft: Linkin Park and Built from Scratch respectively).
On the personal side of things I worked with Raida countless times whether with Kurious, SadatX, Everlast or demos for friends Like MF Grim or B-One or just some weirdo shit I was putting together for self. I sometimes traded him doubles of break records for these duties at his urging and will never forget trading him the T Swift and Power of Zeus breaks for some scratches on a never released H20 song. I think he got the best of me that day but I was just glad to have the man in the studio with me that afternoon cause he was such a pleasure to be around, to snap with and to ingest some herbals with. I never told him but I just liked having his ears around me in the studio he had a great sense of what was funky, what worked and what didn’t. He was really insightful that way.
I also remember that day I got the call that MF Grim had been shot and 2 running buddies of Radia’s and Grim’s T and Jay Black respectively had been killed from a mutual friend. I instantly asked if Raida was with them, if he was all right and let out a sigh of relief when I found out he was aok as he wasn’t with his boys when they met this tragic fate. For a long time after that loss each hug we exchanged was that more meaning full as I always reminded him how glad I was he didn’t get caught out there that when that horrible turn of events happened. In fact the first person I thought of when I heard this unsettling news of his passing was Grim for this very reason.
Raida was beyond this a serious family man. I remember him dragging his son around with him when he was no more than 4 or 5 years old coming to my house to listen to some beats with Grim and the crew and being surprised than such a young man could be so responsible as a dad. The love he had for his children was more than evident and I always asked him about his family every time I saw him knowing how much they meant to him. He would always ask me ” When you going to have some D?” to which I would shrug my shoulders and say something lame like “When I can stand a lady for more than a month I promise” or something stupid to that effect. We would both chuckle and get on with catching up on our latest runnings and whatnot. He was always shining each and every time I saw him and to this day I still think of him as a lil homie of sorts just because he was so young and fresh faced when I first met him. Funny thing is he never did seem to age much physically.
He was also a very well mannered young man, one who possessed an inner confidence yet also an inner humility, which is rarely seen by such a talent. He was a masterful technician in the studio, a joy to be around and somebody who made me psyched each and every time we bumped heads which the last couple of years was all too few and far between in retrospect. The age old adage let you friends know you care before it’s too late has hardly ever been as true as this one. Raida was amazing; He always made everyone feel great about themselves, about being around him and his shit eating grin while killing it on the tables will never be forgotten. I can close my eyes now and see it vividly.
Anthony Williams aka GrandMaster Roc Raida is survived by his 3 daughters Aysa, Nyra and Tia, his son Eric, his loving wife Tyeasha, his mother Brenda and his step father Clarence and his thousands of friends. See Raida was a loved man and he really did have thousands of friends it was uncanny to tell the truth. To them all I send my deepest condolences. Today’s service was a roller coaster of emotions from joyous memories of Raida’s career and funny anecdotes to some of the deepest of sorrows I have ever experienced in public ever. I know for me the finality of it all hit me at the service and for one of the rare times in my life I wept in public something I hold no shame attached to. It actually felt good to let it out, to share my grief in public with my peers and to hug friends and be reminded that we have love for one another and not to please check out any time soon another gift from our amazing friend Anthony “Roc Raida” Williams.
We miss you, we love you and we will forever have you in our hearts Raida fly with the angels, go practice with AM and hopefully you’ll run in to my friend Andy Kessler up there you two will love each other trust.
REST IN POWER YOUNG HOMIE THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
September 24th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Thanks, Dante, some heartfelt words.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:54 am
[...] The rest is here: DANTE ROSS » Blog Archive » ROC RAIDA REST IN POWER YOUNG HOMIE WE … [...]
September 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Damn - I was just watchin the Scratch DVD the other day for fun and inspiration while I blew one…I was in NY (shootin that vh1 thingy) & didn’t even know the homie had passed…I am sorry for your loss Dante, and mourn the same for Hip Hop. Pieces of Peace (however you can get it!)
September 26th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Dante, well said yes! Raida lives in our hearts forever.
Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.
-Kahlil Gibran
Blessings, Xiou Ping