The untimely death of talented artists will always send shockwaves through the community. Not least when two cornerstones of related scenes pass away within weeks of one another.
Following the tragic news that ‘Godfather’ of house music Frankie Knuckles had succumbed to Type II diabetes-related complications at the age of 59, Chicago was again rocked on Saturday, 26th April, as word spread that DJ Rashad, one of the pioneers of much more modern but similarly Windy City-built electronic dance variants, juke and footwork, had suffered from a suspected drug overdose, aged-35, just hours before he was due to play alongside ghetto-techno stalwart DJ Godfather.
Two huge losses, the impact of which will be significant, given we paid our final respects to Mr. Knuckles a little while back it seems only right to do the same for this other fallen innovator. So, it’s with heavy hearts that we present the following selection of cuts, which at least go someway to highlighting exactly why people like DJ Rashad sadly don’t come along too often… Much love and respect to a true master.
