Sunday, January 24, 2010
R.I.P. Apache of the Flavor Unit
This news f-cked me up when it broke on Friday! Apache was literally one of the first projects I ever worked on when I fist got in the music game. Now I wasn't there when "Gangsta B-tch" was recorded with producer, Q-tip but when my boss gave me the whole album with this track on it before its release, it was pretty obvious what the single had to be, flagrant lyrical content, controversial title 'n all. You couldn't deny Tip's incredible beat and the sheer catchiness of the track. Out of the many projects by the 155 Morgan Street crew I was dealing with at the time, it was clear this record was gonna GO, by hook or by crook. Avowed hip hop feminists like Dream Hampton or Kierna Mayo couldn't front on this track despite its exhortation for woman to carry the name B-thc like a badge of honor and even urban radio, which at the time was a LOT more conservative and anti-rap than it is now, eventually succumbed to the crass charm of Apache's anti-hit!
Now I'm not gonna get all hagiographic on y'all and claim Apache was a saint now that he's passed on. Dude could be a handful at times no doubt, but he knew who he was as an artist at the time and stood firm on that, often to the detriment of his own career (I'll always remember the "Kill All the White People..." promo t-shirts he insisted we make) but when you got right down to it, he was a really good guy. Its no surprise to me that later in his life, long after our paths had separated, that he had apparently found God. That should make it all the moreeasier for him to rest in peace. My condolences go out to his family, friends, Naughty and the Flavor Unit crew.
More on Apache:
Rap Radar broke the news on the hip hop blogs....
“Without Apache there would have been no Queen Latifah, no Naughty By Nature, no Chill Rob G., no anything. Apache was the string that tied all of Flavor Unit together. Without Apache none of this would be.” — Shakim Compere of Flavor Unit [TSS]
Can we please have a moment of silence for Flavor Unit rapper Apache. [Beats and Rants]
"Another sad loss for the hip-hop community…" [Unkut.com]
Tribute and condolence tweets from the hip hop community. [T.R.O.Y. blog]
Labels: Old School Hip Hop
