R.I.P. Proof (Born Deshaun Holton)

WE INTERRUPT YOUR DIAMOND D. FEATURE FOR A WEED CARRIER UPDATE

So yeah, this being a Hip-Hop site I guess I gotta touch on Proof’s death. These sites (who are dope, BTW) cover my opinion perfectly:

Joey @ Straight Bangin covers it and why his name will be uttered at every shitty underground Jam I go to for the next three months:

As you’ve likely read by now, Proof was killed yesterday after getting clapped in a nightclub. Perhaps it’s just me, but after learning of this and reflecting on the inherent sadness of someone’s passing, am I the only person who immediately thought “Here we go, one more name for the obligatory hip-hop-concert fallen-soldier memorial section”? Honestly. And I don’t mean that in no nice way.

He goes on…fucking perfectly, I might ad.

As a service to the rappers, the fans, and the hip-hop community, I thought we might establish some ground rules:

1) It’s enough with B.I.G. and 2Pac - Look, I can understand the urge to shout out Biggie and 2Pac. And I’m not denigrating the abilities or contributions of either. Ready to Die is a classic. Both dudes were transcendent talents whose deaths sadly defined an era in hip-hop; most rappers would like to think that they’re somehow both honoring and succeeding these two; everyone loves beef; etc. I get all that. But every fucking concert? Is that really necessary? Can’t we all try to move on? (Jay-Z, are you seeing this?) With all due respect, it’s not like we’re mourning Martin Luther King or Albert Einstein. And on top of that, if you all love these two so much, find some other songs of theirs to play, because “One More Chance” and “Hail Mary” are tired. Give me “Party and Bullshit” or “Pain” or something.

2) Big Pun and Big L needn’t always be included - Was the Big Pun catalogue really so distinguished? I liked Capital Punishment, but Yeeeah Baby never did much for me and that was basically it. I know, I know, What about that amazing Little Italy line from the “Deep Cover” re-make? Yeah, that was nice, too. But Big Pun has neither the oeuvre nor the influence to justify the incessant name invocation. It’s almost like he benefits from some kind of posthumous hip-hop affirmative action as the token non-black MC who people actually liked. Plus, he helped prolong the career of Fat Joe, and that isn’t something I really appreciate. As for Big L, well, see what I just wrote about Big Pun. Catalogue? Influence? You dudes make it seem like L invented hip-hop. DJ Premier can do and say what he wants; everyone else needs to perhaps find some perspective.

3) “The East Coast ain’t got no love for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg?” - And by that, of course, I mean Eazy-E. If rappers want to run around bigging up dead rappers of significance, why aren’t they talking about Eazy-E before Big Pun? Have they heard of N.W.A.? Are they aware that most of them probably owe something to Eazy for leading the ascendancy of what the media calls “gangsta rap”? The Game made a tribute album to Eazy-E called The Documentary (it was subtle, but you might have caught Eazy’s name when Game dropped it a few times), but what about everyone else? Why does Left Eye get more shouts than this dude?

4) Actual legends deserve dap - I’m not one who stands on ceremony or tradition when it comes to hip-hop. For instance, I don’t accept as settled doctrine that someone like KRS-One or Kool G Rap is necessarily a better MC than Ghostface just because the first two were working at this before Dennis Coles. They might be better, but it’s open for debate. There is a difference between skill and influence, though, and you can make a strong argument that both have wielded greater influence than Ghost. So goes it for someone like Jam Master Jay. If you want to shout him out, go ahead; he and RUN DMC earned it. I suppose one could make a similar case for Biggie and Pac, but neither of them effectively shaped hip-hop during its primordial state. And unlike Jam Master Jay, B.I.G. and 2Pac are usually just reflexively acknowledged because it’s just the thing to do. You know?

5) You couldn’t have possibly known all of them that well - At some of these concerts, rappers seem like they’re reading a list as they go through everyone they’ve ever heard of who has died: Keep those hands up for Aaliyah…Now throw up those L’s for Left Eye…When I say “O.D.” y’all say “B”…Don’t forget my man John Ritter; Three’s Company was some funny shit…Props to Milosevic, he kept it gully…And one more time, Freaky Tah–Peace! Only Russell Simmons could possibly have been closely associated with all those people. Everyone else? Well, when I heard Memphis Bleek shout out Jay-Z’s accountant, I knew that there had to be limits. So let’s agree to this: If you worked closely with someone; or if you were married to someone; or if you were otherwise related to someone, you can shout him or her out when that person passes. Mr. Cheeks can give it up for Freaky Tah; R. Kelly can publicly mourn Aaliyah; T-Boz and Mack 10 (by marriage) can shout out Lisa Lopes; etc. You get the picture. But if you’re just some rapper who doesn’t have enough songs to fill your time on stage, don’t just make a list of dead people and then ramble on about them. I’d rather get more music from the house DJ because I usually haven’t heard “Mad Izm” in months.

Damn!

And The Human Resource (I see you!) over at Start Snitching touches on why his death may not be a memorable tragedy as with other memorialized MC’s,,,

Instead of gun-butting and shooting someone over an argument involving a pool game, you can maybe try not to act like a stereotypical irascible rapper and realize that if you pull out your gun another person will probably pull out their gun.

Maybe he could have thought of his kids before he decided to act out “Gimme the Loot.”
Why is a 32 year-old man with 5 children at an afterhours nightclub in Detroit pistol whipping people?
Clubs close at 2 AM in Detroit and the shit went down at 4:30. Nothing good happens at after-hours spots.

And to add a drop of irony to the situation, Eminem’s 2004 video “Toy Soldiers” about ending rap beefs, showed Eminem attending Proof’s mock funeral.
Considering that was the only good song off of that horrible album, maybe now Eminem will have something to rhyme about again.

Perhaps some good can come out of this situation after all.

Damn!

So yeah…Proof was, at best, a competent rapper…and it was cool he was friends with Dilla…but man, would we have this level of love for Big Noyd if he got shot after pistol-whipping a bouncer?

This entry was posted on Friday, April 14th, 2006 at 12:19 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.