For years, the so-called hip-hop generation has witnessed pillars of the music die at an early age. While the violent deaths of some weren’t unexpected, the losses were tragic and painful. As hip-hop celebrates its recent 50-year anniversary (Aug. 11), some of its most gifted performers weren’t around for the party, as their lives had been claimed by illnesses that haunt middle-aged people.
De La Soul’s Trugoy, 54, died from heart failure in February. In 2021, Biz Markie died from health complications stemming from diabetes and Black Rob died in an Atlanta hospital after a series of strokes. In Virginia, rapper Magoo, the longtime partner of producer Timbaland, just died on Aug. 13 at age 50. Singer and rapper Marlon C. of the rap duo, Dirty Souls, and cousin of D’angelo, died in April after a brief illness. He was 49.
One of the first times the local rap scene was confronted with its mortality was in 2012, when rapper Kleph Dollaz suffered a heart attack. Born Darrell K. Durant in Germany, he and his fellow Petersburg partner Deeda became Ill Biskits and signed with Atlantic Records. The deal didn’t turn out the way they hoped. After a music video and a single, their debut, “Chronicle of Two Losers,” was shelved. Kleph Dollaz continued to produce music for other artists and eventually shifted to mentoring youth and recording his own songs with spiritual themes.
After his death, a mural of Kleph Dollaz, accompanied by a bible verse, was painted in a Shockoe Bottom alley. It’s part of a larger effort to remember the rapper and his work with young people. Named after a greeting the rapper would share in early hours, the God’s Morning Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Kleph’s sister, Trenna Grice. Since it was established in 2012, the organization has given over $75,000 to students with an interest in the arts.
“We’re answering his call and helping all the children that he would really want us to touch,” Grice says.
One of those students who has been helped by the foundation is DeVante Raines. He was the first scholarship recipient and works as an educator at Tar River Academy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He hasn’t forgotten the impact the scholarship made.
“It changed life for me that I was able to go to school to get my bachelor’s degree, along with some other scholarships,” he says. “And God’s Morning was a huge and a very essential part of me having the funds that I needed to be able to go to school and to be able to continue my education.”
Raines is also the music director at Bethel Revival Church in Emporia and plans to establish his own scholarship program.
Official reissue on Real Gone Music
Over the years, the foundation has survived through private donations, with some corporate support. The restrictions due to the pandemic shut down some of the group’s fundraising events, such as a 5k walk, which they plan to resume soon.
“I was a little nervous a couple times … thinking that it wasn’t gonna make it,” Grice says, adding that her daughter dissuaded her from closing the foundation.
The foundation got an unexpected boost recently when Real Gone Music contacted the family via letter. The California-based record company, which specializes in reissuing lost and forgotten recordings, wanted to give the album Kleph recorded as part of Ill Biskits a proper release. The label and the family came to an agreement that led to the official release of “Chronicle of Two Losers” earlier this summer, with a portion of the proceeds going to the foundation.
“It gave me tears of joy, which, you know … had been tears of sadness, but this is definitely brought me tears of joy,” Grice says. “I wish he was here to see it and know that people love his music.”
Sam “Samazon Prime” Ford is the host of WRIR’s “Journey Though The Crates,” a hip-hop based radio program. Ford says he first heard Ill Biskits when he saw their music video for “God Bless Your Life” while living in Iowa.
“It kind of stuck with me,” he recalls. “I just remember the production especially … it’s got a good sound.”
Ford says he was skeptical when he heard about the new release. After confirming that it was legitimate, he ordered the clear, coke bottle-colored vinyl record. “I was really impressed with the packaging and they did a really nice job with it,” he says. “They even put the hype sticker on the shrink.”
Grice says there’s more Kleph Dollaz music on a hard drive that her other brother Johnnie keeps. They haven’t decided what to do with the songs yet. “There’s a lot of music,” she says. “I can talk to my brother about it, I’m gonna see him in a couple of weeks.”
In the meantime, the work of God’s Morning continues, with the latest recipient, Will Haley, attending Temple University this fall and majoring in musical theater.
“We are trying to make a difference,” Grice says. “The beautiful thing is that we’ve seen applications from kids in California, [Las] Vegas. It’s not just in the, you know, the DMV. And that, to me, is what I think kept us going.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of DeVante Raines.
