We met Queensbridge rapper Killa Sha a few years back at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. He was talking about being down with Marley Marl and Tragedy and instead of giving him his due respect for years in the game, I heard myself asking him if he carried their weed.
At that point, 40 Diesel who’d brought Sha over to talk with us basically erupted in disbelief which was fantastic. Sha himself took the jab in stride and even closed his time with us with an answer: “And I don’t just hold the weed!”
You can catch our minute with Sha starting around 3:35 in the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival Lost Tapes video below.
After the video came out, Robbie kept vouching for Sha’s talent so I checked out his album and some other tracks and had to admit the guy we had picked on had skills. Robbie did his part to be our counter-balance and gave Sha a ton of respect at Unkut, culminating in an interview a few months ago.
Today the news hit twitter that Sha passed away of complications from diabetes. I just wanted to say Rest in Peace to a dope and dedicated artist, wish his family strength during their loss, and thank Sha for not smacking me silly that day.
In a strange coincidence, there’s an OkayPlayer event in New York this Wednesday to raise awareness for diabetes. Phife Dawg who suffers from the disease himself is hosting and Ghostface, Jay Electronica and Talib Kweli are on the bill. More info at OKP.
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