Beware the Ides of March

when I heard that two of the most remarkable pioneering players in black music passed away on the same day – March 15.
March 15 is worldly known as the Ides of March, one of the most feared, hated and unluckiest days which always bring a sad result at the end of the day.
According to legend it was on the Ides of March that Julius Caesar that great Roman general was assassinated by his Senate led by none other that Brutus.
I don’t like the Ides of March as it was also in March that the best rapper ever Notorious BIG was murdered whilst promoting his next album.
Also on March 15 this year Nate Dogg one of the most prolific and successful rap stars of all time kicked the bucket after a long sickness.
Smiley Culture, the man with that infectious smile who made the then known music as digital but now universally know as dancehall popular, died on the very same day.
Smiley was popular the world wide with such crossover hits like Cockney Translator and Police Office and I would say he was the first ragga megastar.
Nate Dogg that G-funk pioneer and the man who made the most saccharine and ear catching hooks and riffs ever in hip-hop passed away at a young age of 41 last week on the Ides of March.
I still remember hearing Nate my first time on Warren G’s Regulate and I can say though it was G’s song Nate outclassed him the way Kelly Rowland did to Nelly on Dilemma.
Nate was one of the pioneers of G-funk, which was very popular with the West Coast during the late 80’s and 90’s together with the likes of Dr Dre, Ice Cube and later on Snoop Dogg and Warren G who he formed the group 213 with. Nate had a unique way of singing that was sweet, soulful but also powerful that made you sing along with him especially during hooks and choruses.
The Dogg, real name Nathaniel Haye, came at a time when rap was in the doldrums and songs were becoming very predictable, there would be an intro and then the first verse then later came on the chorus which usually was just one or two repeated lines.
However, Nate came along and brought a totally different and new dimension to hooks choruses and the rap-sing verve, which has now taken the world by storm.
I think people like Akon, Drake, T-Pain, Chris Brown, Eminem and others were really influenced by the late great but never to be forgotten Nate Dogg.
Nate began singing in church where his father was also a pastor and dropped out of high school at age 16 to pursue a career in the army.
Besides being friends with Snoop Dogg, Warren G, RBX he was also cousin to famous rappers Butch Cassidy and Lil Half Dead. Nate came on the spotlight when the demo tape that he recorded with Snoop and Warren G (Dre’s brother as well), found its way in Dre’s hands who immediately signed him. The Dogg made his debut on The Chronic using what later become his trademark style, a laid back but ferocious delivery punctuated by soulful Marvin Gaye-like drawls and was well-received by fans and critics alike.
He also featured on Mista Grimm’s Indosmoke with Warren G.
Then in 1994 he produced his first hit single, Regulate, with long time collaborator Warren G which won them a Grammy nomination.
Nate Dogg was also featured in many Tupac releases, including the collabo album Thug Life: Volume One.
In all he was to release three albums which cemented his status as a legend before he was to be affected by two strokes which eventually led to his death.
On the other hand David Victor Emanuel aka Smiley Culture who was born on 10 February also met the grim reaper albeit different circumstances when he was stabbed during a police raid at his place in England.
Though they are varying accounts as to what led to his death Smiley will always be remembered as one of the first people who put the now dancehall on the world music world.
Born of Caribbean born parents (his father was Jamaican whilst his mother was Guyanese) Smiley put ragga on the radar with his comically but highly sensitive and political rhetoric in songs.
Smiley was renowned for his ‘fast chat’ style and rhyming and during a relatively brief period of fame and success, he produced two of the most critically acclaimed reggae singles of the 1980s.
He died on 15 March 2011, aged 48, following a police raid on his home and he shall always be remembered as one of the first fathers of dancehall music.
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