Legendary Rapper Kangol Kid Loses Battle With Colon Cancer

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Hip-hop and branding pioneer Kangol Kid is dead at 55 following a short battle with colon cancer.

A statement released by his family said Kid, who was diagnosed with cancer in February, died peacefully around 3 a.m. Saturday at a hospital in Manhasset, New York.

It was an inauspicious end for the Brooklyn-bred artist, born Shaun Shiller Fequiere, who had been honored by the American Cancer Society in 2012 for his fund-raising efforts. He was co-founder of the Mama Luke Foundation.

The charity for promoting breast cancer awareness was named in honor of Gay Frances Lucas, the
mother of his manager, who passed away from the disease in 2010.

“I watched her deteriorate,” said Kid, who at the time had never had cancer effect someone close to him before, of his reason for starting the foundation. “So, I took on the fight and said alright, there’s no reason anyone else should have to go through what she went through. I reached out to my friends, my hip-hop family … we became the top fundraising team for the American Cancer Society.”

The relationships he called on to fight cancer were built during a groundbreaking career. After starting his career as a B-boy, or breakdancer, at points touring with early rap powerhouses Whodini and Full Force, he took to the mic as one-fourth of the legendary group UTFO.

Formed in Brooklyn and comprised of Kid — whose non-de-plume derived from a neighborhood nickname acquired because of the many Kangol hats he owned — his former breakdancing partner Doctor Ice, the Educated Rapper and D.J. Mix Master Ice, the group, also known as the Untouchable Force Organization, released a string of hits in the 1980s.

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Chief among them was the now-iconic "Roxanne, Roxanne.” The 1984 single only reached No. 10 on the Billboard R&B singles chart, but its influence on the genre has been lasting and deep.

Its release spawned imitators, scores of answer-tracks, and was the launching point for the careers of two of hip-hop's early female stars: Roxanne Shante and The Real Roxanne.

UTFO released five albums and continued to innovate, becoming the first rap group to perform at the Apollo Theater in 1985 and collaborating with heavy-metal band Anthrax in 1987.

Following the group's success, Kid wrote a music-industry advice column, first for Black Beat magazine and then for AllHiphop.com, and continued to write and produce for other artists. His relationship with Kangol hats, who ended up sponsoring him, remained strong his entire life with the company granting him free product. One of his newsboy-style Kangol hats is included in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard, Co-Founder and Original Bassist of The Roots, Dies at 62

 

Fourteen years after departing the group in 2007 due to a multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) diagnosis, Leonard Hubbard, a founding member of the Grammy-winning hip-hop group The Roots, has lost his battle with the disease.

Hubbard, better known by his sobriquet “Hub,” died at the age of 62 Thursday. His wife Stephanie told Philadelphia’s ABC 6 that after being in remission until last month, Hubbard’s health took a drastic turn Wednesday night.

Hubbard found himself immobile after being energetic the days before. Stephanie dropped him off for treatment at Lankenau Hospital but could not stay with him due to Covid restrictions. She was informed of his passing the next day.

"I was called to the hospital. They told me what had happened that he had passed. I went to the hospital and was able to sit with him," she told ABC 6, noting that her husband, who had decided to focus on his work as a composer after he left the group, had just finished a major project titled “The Awakening” the previous week.

"He wanted to be known for the type of music he was composing," she said. "And before he died, he was sitting there at night listening to the music, and he was so happy with it,” Stephanie said. “When you hear his project, you'll see he was so much more than what people know.”

Following the news The Root’s Twitter account posted a tribute to Hubbard, who along with Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Malik “Malik B.” Abdul Basit were the original lineup for the seminal hip-hop group.

"It's with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to our brother Leonard Nelson Hubbard," the post read. "May your transition bring peace to your family to your friends to your fans and all of those who loved you. Rest in Melody Hub."

It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to our brother Leonard Nelson Hubbard.
May your transition bring peace to your family to your friends to your fans and all of those who loved you.

Rest in Melody Hub pic.twitter.com/2dknTLDNLh

— The Roots (@theroots) December 17, 2021

Hubbard’s tenure with the group began in 1992 and lasted 15 years. His bass guitar anchored the signature sound of the band. He played on all their releases during this time including the classics “Things Fall Apart” and “The Tipping Point.”

This is the second death of a founding member of The Roots. Malik B. died in July 2020; a cause of death was not released.

Astroworld Victims Suffocated While Being Crushed to Death

All 10 people who died because of the deadly crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival last month, which occurred while Scott was on stage, suffocated.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office announced its conclusion on Thursday that the victims died of "compression asphyxia." One of the deceased, Danish Baig, had cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol in his system, but the drugs were contributory and not the main cause of death.

The conclusion by the medical examiner that the victims were essentially crushed to death came one day after crews finally started disassembling the Astroworld Festival stage, which stood as a grim reminder of the deadly concert 40 days later, and on the day Scott announced that he would be working with the United States Conference of Mayors to ensure a similar tragedy does not happen in the future.

“This mass tragedy reinforced the serious issue of festival safety and security,” read an agreement obtained by Variety about the partnership with the organization. “As festivals with large crowd sizes continue to enjoy popularity, organizers, city officials and other stakeholders must have a clear understanding about best practices, current vulnerabilities, and access to the most innovative technology to ensure every festival is as safe as possible.”

For the Astroworld victims who died and the 300 or so other people that were injured in the crowd of 50,000 that attended the event, the announcement from Scott did not do much to ease their grief or assuage their anger.

Following the announcement that the victim's deaths were ruled to be accidental, the family of Bharti Shahani issued this scathing statement through their attorney:

"The medical examiner's findings confirm Bharti's family's worst fears," James Lassiter said. "Their beloved daughter's last living moments were surely marked with suffering, panic, and terror. It's a horrific, inescapable image that no parent should have to endure. But that is the sad reality for the Shahanis and the nine other families that received this terrible news."

Along with 27-year-old Baig and Bharti (22), the other victims were Rodolfo Pena (23), Madison Dubiski (23), Axel Avila (21), Franco Patino (21), Jacob Jurinek (20), Brianna Rodriguez (16), John Hilgert (14) and Ezra Blount (9).