JAYFORCE

The Source, Rolling Stone, People, AllHipHop, Vibe, and NY Daily News all confirm that Sean Price (aka Ruck, one-half of Heltah Skeltah) died Saturday morning (August 8, 2015) in his sleep. He was 43 years old.

Sure, the comforting thing to say is that we should ‘celebrate the life of Price‘ or ‘remember him fondly.’ And I will; but right now, I am going to allow myself to feel a bit sad. I am going to watch vids and listen to all kinds of P (as Price would call himself) as my “Therapy” (yep, going all the way back to Heltah Skeltah’s early hits, too) to help me push through. I expect I will circle right back around what I was thinking just a couple of days ago: Sean Price was a beast in the booth, a lyrical weight champion (Mic Tyson) and so much more to Hip-Hop.

Sean Price was a crazy uncle to the Hip-Hop fam, but he had his own family, too. He gave us peeks and pieces of life with his wife and kids his rhymes and in video. We got close to P, so it’ll hurt a bit more; but we should also remember the joy that came with that closeness. I never personally met the man; but beyond rap skills, his zaniness would crack me up. The clowning that Price got into – like that Mic Tyson ‘live from Hurricane Sandy’ piece or the recent Tyrese spoof – is proof of just how far dude would go to get a laugh. I hope you got to laugh with him, too; at his antics from afar or maybe up close and personal. Yeah, I plan on laughing at some quality Sean Price craziness later; but now I am going to be sad.

Just now thinking about how I’ll miss posting those off-the-wall, no-advance-notice quick-hit rhymes and dope features. Those were pleasant surprises to be enjoyed, like his solo work. But there will be no more. A great chapter in Hip-Hop ends because the author is now gone from us.

Rest In Peace, Sean Price. We will miss you.

(Hit the jump for sentiments from around the Twitterverse.)

– @ojones1

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