According to his social media profiles, renowned New York City rapper and former firefighter Ka, whose true name was Kaseem Ryan, has passed away. He was fifty-two.
According to a note on his Instagram account, he died “unexpectedly” on Saturday. As part of a “life of service—to his city, to his community, and to his music,” it commended his efforts to hip-hop, firefighting, and his cherished neighborhood of Brownsville.
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A request for information was not immediately answered by a representative of the New York City chief medical examiner, and there was no indication of a cause of death.
“Capt. Ryan served the FDNY and the people of the city of New York with distinction for 20 years, working assignments in both the Bronx and Brooklyn,” Fire Department spokesperson Jim Long stated. “The Ryan family remains in our thoughts during their time of loss.”
Relatively late in his life, Ka’s creativity became well-known among critics, composers, and other emcees. In 2008, he initially dazzled audiences with music and messages that were largely hidden in an indie-rap milieu where Ferraris and charts aren’t very valuable.
Ka rose to fame thanks to his published lyrics and partnerships with artists like Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA and producer Roc Marciano. His modest, nuanced, and scathing lyrics kept him in the minds of reviewers and other hip-hop artists; some even referred to him as one of the genre’s finest writers.
“$,” a song from Ka’s well-known 2016 album “Honor Killed the Samurai,” exploded mainstream hip-hop by characterizing it as joyous during a period of symbolic conflict.
“With bars of greed, I plead, how many cars you need? When fathers bleed to fill ribs of kids that hardly read/F— your loot rhymes, and the new finds you purchased/If you ain’t buyin’ no soup for them soup lines and churches,” he stated.
The music magazine The Fader, in a 2016 feature headline, referred to Ka as “New York Rap’s Greatest Living Treasure.” On X on Monday, hip-hop journalist Jeff Weiss referred to Ka as “the master of quiet rage,” stating that his songs included “pain, grief, and wisdom in every bar.”
Ka produced eleven albums under his own name, according to the statement on his Instagram page. “He leaves an extraordinary legacy as a recording artist,” it read.
Moreover, His wife, Mimi Valdes, referred to Ka as “my king, my hero, my best friend” in a statement posted on her verified Instagram account on Monday.
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Ka’s story is unique on several levels, including his success after forgoing a recording studio career to pursue a 20-year career as a firefighter. According to the statement posted on his Instagram account, this career led him to the historic 9/11 tragedy as a first responder and eventually saw him rise to the rank of captain.
In 1989, a cousin handed him $1,000 to buy studio time, he told The Fader. Ka’s name initially surfaced on a record in 1994 when he was a part of a project by Natural Elements, a group of hip-hop musicians and emcees.
But his ambitions of using a microphone dimmed, and he didn’t start recording again until the 2000s. “Iron Works” was finally released in 2008. “I was motivated to prove to my mother that I hadn’t wasted my youth trying to be a rapper,” he told Complex magazine.
That year, Ka’s reputation as a poetic emcee also spread to fellow Brooklyn native GZA (Gary Grice) of Wu-Tang Clan, according to the music magazine Pitchfork.
He was asked to rhyme on the song “Firehouse,” which is part of GZA’s “Pro Tools” album. Ka’s role as a low-key legend appeared to be confirmed when he took the mic with GZA.
The song came before other solo releases that established Ka as a leading lyricist.
“The Thief Next to Jesus,” his final known recording, was made available in August.
NBC News: Ka, a New York rapper celebrated as a legendary wordsmith, is dead at 52
