The rap world is mourning another loss today as Saafir (a/k/a Saafir the Sauce Nomad) passed away today at 54 years old. Born Reggie Gibson on August 23rd, 1970 in Oakland, California, the future rap superstar was in the right place and time to see the culture come of age, hitting his teens in the Golden Era of the 1980’s. When I say he was in the “right place” I also mean that Digital Underground was from his hometown, so it was only natural for an aspiring rapper to get in where he could fit in, and like Tupac Shakur he started his rap career as an affiliated member and backup dancer.

It didn’t take him long to graduate to being a rap star in his own right, releasing the seminal classic “Boxcar Sessions.” Singles like “Light Sleeper” showed off his inventive and creative flow, jumping on and off beat and stringing together rhymes in unexpected places. He was part of a new generation of California rappers like Freestyle Fellowship and the Hieroglyphics crew who were quickly changing the style and sound of rap music. While gangster rap was commercially dominant in the era, Saafir and his kinfolk weren’t afraid to do things a little differently and represent their own style and flow.

Ironically even though he was friends with Hiero rappers like Casual and Pep Love, he wound up embroiled in one of the most famous feuds of the era, when Saafir and his Hobo Junction crew did a massive freestyle battle with the Hieroglyphics at KMEL live on The Wake Up Show. Tapes of the incident quickly spread far and wide due to many people taping and dubbing the battle (I was the recipient of one such tape via my friend Seoul Sistah) and it raised the profile of everyone involved. Even though tensions were heated due to each side feeling they had been slighted or disrespected in some way, hosts Sway and King Tech insisted they keep it on the mic and not devolve into anything resembling an all out brawl. They had their work cut out for them but they kept the peace.

Famously Saafir was on TWA Flight 843 in 1992, which left him with life long injuries that stemmed from jumping off the burning airplane to the ground. As time progressed Saafir was wheelchair bound but his spirits continued to soar, as he continued to release and record music and got to see his own son follow in his footsteps in rap in 2012. Reggie Gibson was “surrounded by friends and family” when he passed away at 8:45 AM local time this morning, which is exactly as it should be. My condolences to all of them and to the hip-hop community on the loss of another legend.