DJ Eclipse has been an even busier man as of late, what with touring overseas, working on the new La Coka Nostra album and now managing Rasheed Chappell. Still, he found some time to take out of his busy schedule to hook the dopehouse up with another editorial.
DJ Eclipse: It’s been a couple months since I made a post. Been busy working on some albums as well as touring. I knew I had to write something for 2dopeboyz, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything interesting I wanted to say. Well, this week we lost another member of our Hip Hop community…and now I have a lot to say.
Many of you may not be familiar with I.G. Off (I.G. Off & Hazadous), but he was one of the nicest, both in terms of personality as well as talent to come from our scene. He lived for Hip Hop. He rocked at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe amongst many local freestyle veterans. He was a staple in NYC college radio making appearances on WNYU, WKCR & WBAI to name a few. He put out some banging joints with DJ Spinna on Beyond Real Recordings. His rhyme partner then, Hazadous, was nice too, but I.G. was more the one to do the politicing. He had a gift for gab and was just as dope as Craig G or Supernat when it came to “off the top” freestyles. AND he was from Queens.
I.G. had been up to my show on several occasions each time destroying the mic. On one of our anniversaries (I believe it was) he came up with a film crew and told me they were filming a documentary on him and Haz. I never heard any more about the doc after that, but looks like they did complete it (thanks google). “Hip Hop: A Tale From The Hood”
Last time he came up to the show he had some neck and spine problems. He basically couldn’t turn his head. I thought THAT was bad. Then in 2007, I.G. Off was run over by a drunk driver leaving him paralyzed from his chest down. And if that wasn’t bad enough he was hit again in 2010 by a bus that was making a turn and partially rode up on the sidewalk, catching his wheelchair and further injuring him and his aid. Throughout the years he visited several hospitals, but for as much as they could do not one of them could prescribe any medication that could take away the pain he felt daily. As bad as his condition was though he never complained about it and made the best of his situation determined to still make music. Recently I.G. didn’t look well to his parents. When he started complaining about not being able to swallow solid foods his pops told him they were going to check him back into the hospital the next day. The next morning, Tuesday June 12, 2012, I.G.Off’s father told his son they were going to the hospital. Shortly after, I.G.’s aid went into his room to help him get ready. The aid heard I.G. mumbling “I can beat this, I can beat this, I can beat this”, but to no one in particular. When the aid asked him “what did you say?”, I.G.’s response was “Ok, I’m ready to go now”. That was the last thing he said before he stopped breathing. Christopher McKenzie had passed away.
This past Wednesday I paid my respects to I.G. Off on The Halftime Show (89.1 WNYU) by playing some joints, demos and freestyles from the brother. You can check out that portion of the show below. Peace to DJ Spinna, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Pri & Nes from Dirty Waters Blog for helping out with some audio and info as well as Jemal Mosley for the Harald Rumpf “I.G. Off & Hazadous” pic and Stefan Falke for the more recent pic. And I especially want to thank I.G. Off’s parents Sandra & Raymond Murphy for taking the time to give me some insight on their son’s life since his accident. It’s important that we support and remember our own as too often those that do not achieve “mainstream” success tend to get overlooked in history. Funeral services are being held on Thursday June 21st at Jeremiah C. Gaffney Funeral Home in Inwood, NY. R.I.P. as well to graffiti legend Stay High 149 who we also lost this week.
The Halftime Show (I.G. Off Tribute Show) 6-13-2012 [Stream Only]
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