R.I.P. Jax

Wow. Hip Hop literally died on stage last night at Lenny's. When I woke up this morning and saw the homie Nicole's (aka Severe) Gchat message saying "RIP JAX" I wanted to ask "who?" but didn't. You know, its kinda awkward asking people "yo, who died?" Then when I went over to Kaos' blog and saw the post he made on Jax I got reminded of exactly who it was and just thought oh damn...

Jax was one third of Atlanta's Binkis Recs (BINKIS: Before Ignorant Niggas Killed Intelligent Songs). For years Binkis was a stronghold in Atlanta's underground rap scene, even aiding in launching the career of DJ Drama pre-Gangsta Grillz. Really, more than just the "rap scene," Hip Hop period. If you were a lover of music, supporter of the culture and resident of Atlanta you'd surely seen these dudes perform and walked away remembering what you saw.

On a personal level, I can't say that I knew Jax, I only met him a couple times through the homie Craig who is in BINKIS as well. Can't say not one bad thing about dude, everytime I'd spoken with him was a pleasant experience. But that's neither here nor there, at the end of the day a dope MC, fiance and friend to many has passed.

He passed out on stage performing at Lenny's last night from a heart attack. According to Creative Loafing Jax suffered the heart attack while performing the title track from his 2007 solo album Sharper Images.

While its sad to hear, especially seeing as how he just purchased a home and was about to get married later this year, at least we can say the man died doing what he loved most...on stage at that. How many of us wish that we could die doing what we love?

RIP JAX