That was the subject line of an e-mail I received yesterday from my friend Jared Boxx, co-owner of Big City Records, sharing the sad news that DJ Roc Raida has died. Jared writes:
Letting friends know about this tragic loss, for us, for hip hop and especially for his family. Visiting Raida at his home in May, one thing was clear, he was really excited about his new love for this certain style of martial arts. You could see his years of dedication to the art of turntablism had matured into the daily mastering of this martial arts. It made perfect sense, the practice, the competitiveness and achieving the degrees of difficulty was all elements he was familiar with in his years of DJ-ing. I quickly saw how important & loved he was by his wife & children, & how life in Maryland was keeping them all happy. Raida was involved in a freak accident during a competition a few weeks back & suffered a spinal cord injury. He was cared for immediately, & received multiple surgeries in the days that followed. Though word traveled that things we’re looking better, I was told today he has succumbed to his injuries & has said goodbye to us.
He brought the art form to another level, his own way, in his own style, a true original, that will be greatly missed.
I remember seeing Raida the first time I visited Fat Beats, back when it was on ninth street below street level. This was in the fall of 1995. The store was cramped and not knowing my way around, I felt intimidated. Sinister, who was part of the X-Men DJ crew with Raida, was there, and he was friendly. I recalled being relieved that everyone wasn’t going to give me a hard time with their too-cool-for-school record shop front.
Raida was there too. He stood quietly in a corner sipping from a bottle of Heineken. He was the kind of guy who looked as if he was always holding back a smile, the corners of his mouth curled ever so slightly as if he was in on a joke that nobody else knew from. I spoke with him years later on a few occasions at The Sound Library and found him to be a good dude. I greatly admired his ability and creativity as a DJ.
I was sorry to hear this news.
