RABSWORLD

Legendary New Yorker .. GrandMaster Roc Raida

X-Ecutioners member and legendary turntablist Grand Master Roc Raida died on September 19th, representatives of the DJ confirmed with AllHipHop.com.

“The legendary Grand Master Roc Raida has passed away this morning,” a representative for the DJ told AllHipHop.com. “Family and friends will miss him dearly. Please give the family their privacy.”

The source refused to give details of his illness or injury, or even the cause of Roc Raida’s death, but did state that previous reports of an injury during karate class or a car accident were inaccurate.

The rep confirmed that Roc Raida was hospitalized last week, but would only state that the DJ’s death was totally “unexpected.”

Grand Master Roc Raida started DJ’ing at the age of 10, after being inspired by his father, who was a member of Sugar Hill Records group, Mean Machine.

Roc Raida was an original member of the X-Men turntable crew, who later became The X-Ecutioners, a DJ collective that helped innovate the art form of turntablism.

He became internationally known, after taking home the DMC World DJ Championship in 1995.

Grand Master Roc Raida released 12 albums total as a solo artist and as member of The X-Ecutioners.

Roc Raida, born Anthony Williams, also produced tracks, crafting song or worked with artists like Smif-N-Wessun, Fat Joe, Ghostface, Black Thought, Pink, Linkin Park and others.

His scratching can also be heard on O.C.’s timeless Hip-Hop track “Time’s Up.” Additionally, Grand Master Roc Raida served as Busta Rhymes’ official tour DJ.

Rhymes expressed his condolences today, via his Twitter page, after Roc Raida’s death became a trending topic on the popular micro-blogging site.

"I just wanna thank everyone 4 ur love and support and ur prayers," Busta Rhymes Tweeted. "We will never let ur name die Roc...We love u and will 4ever miss u...RIP…I was told 2day, We r loosing [sic] all of these great people this year as a result of God calling his army because something is about 2 go down!"

Grand Master Roc Raida was also the creator of the popular Gong DJ Battle. Recently; I used to frequent these contests hosted by him along with Lord Sear and Lord Finesse at the famous S.O.B.s venue in New York.

What happens to websites when a person like this dies? We hope it will be kept alive for generations to know the story of my contemporary. He will be missed!



Dj Battle TV Episode 16 from djbattle.net on Vimeo.



** UPDATE ** Cardiac Arrest was the cause of death.

Source: All Hip Hop.com

The family of the late Grand Master Roc Raida (Anthony Williams) has confirmed the influential deejay passed away from complications of cardiac arrest.

Raida was participating in rigorous training under Krav Maga, a self-defense martial arts system that originated in Israel and is utilized by both military and civilians.

The focus of the system is on using combat in “real-life” situations such as clubs and street corners, and emphasizes quick, vicious attacks to specific body parts.

Raida had been studying this unique style for the past two years, and his 15 year old daughter had recently begun participating.

A freak training injury occurred, causing Raida to go into cardiac arrest and pass away tragically at the age of 37.

Roc Raida’s funeral will be held Thursday (September 24) from 10AM-12PM at the Mount Neboh Baptist Church, located on 1883 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd in New York City.

About GrandMaster Roc Raida

Roc Raida began his DJ career in the early eighties at the age of ten. Surrounded by such inspirations as his father, a member of the Sugar Hill Records act Mean Machine and hip hop impresario Grandmaster Flash, Raida cultivated his interest into an absolute passion. Now, Roc Raida is considered among the best of the contemporary DJ’s and has brought the art of Turntablism and Party rocking to a fresh new level.

In the late eighties Raida gained prominence as a member of the New York-based crew the X-Men who, for obvious of copyright reasons, later became known as the X-Ecutioners. Champions of furthering the turntablist movement, the X-Ecutioners made their reputation by utilizing the techniques of beat-juggling; the manual alteration between individual kick and snare sounds to create original drum patterns in real time. This practice has been an inspiration and a force in Roc Raida’s style.

In the beginning defeat was commonplace, as battles were mainly popularity contests. The more contests he entered the more the competition began to appreciate his style and determination. Pushing his limits and raising the standard with which DMC’s are judged, Raida began to get noticed. His impressive finishes in some of the premier DJ battles; first place in the 1991 "As One"; second place in the "Superman Battle"; and second place in the 1992 DMC US Finals were just the beginning. In 1995 Raida, was crowned the DMC World Champion in front of a massive London audience.

The past several years have seen Raida traveling around the globe in such exotic locations as Singapore, Turkey, Japan and Australia to China, Hawaii, Moscow, and the South of France. Two years ago on a panel at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Raida was appointed "Grandmaster", by some of Hip-Hop’s founding fathers. Rules for this dubious honor state that one may only be bestowed with the approval of another Grandmaster; Raida was not only approved, but also welcomed by Kool Herc, Grand Wizard Theodore and scratch evolutionist DST. To round out a phenomenal decade, Raida was also inducted into the DMC Hall of Fame at the 1999 DMC World Finals in New York City.

Roc Raida has been featured on an episode of "Saturday Night Live"; the first DJ to ever share the stage with the fabled SNL band. Proving, once again, that Raida is the perfect example of a master perfecting his art.

Raida has taken his DJ style to souring heights and has also moved into production in the last 8 years. He has produced record for artists, such as, Big L, Smif ‘N’ Wessun, Fat Joe, Bad Boy recording artist Aasim, Ghostface, Black Thought of The Roots and Linkin Park to name a few. He has also lent his hand’s scratching on records for artist’s like O.C.’s classic “Time’s Up” to pop sensation Pink’s new album “I’m Not Dead.” Recently Raida was the star of the National Pepsi commercial entitled Speakerboxx. From Raida’s experience’s and touring attributes he has released 3 DVD’s documenting The Adventures of Roc Raida and now created The Gong Battle (New York & London), which has brought a new light on the turntabilism world of battles.

With many more projects to come in the near future and now a part of the Heavy Hitters crew you will be hearing and seeing a lot of Raida for many years to come through his music, his visuals, his style and the radio where he is the newest edition to Washington D.C.’s 1 radio station WPGC 95.5. Stay tuned because The Adventures of Roc Raida are always going and going and going…