This Is R.I.P Hop.1

We never intended on this blog becoming an obituary but a glance back through the archives would suggest otherwise, I have endeavoured to write about something other than death but when the news broke that Rammellzee had passed I couldn’t let it go without at least saying a couple of words.

There’s little to no info about this terrible news as yet, bar Fab Five Freddy tweeting about it earlier this evening but whatever the facts are I’m more gutted about this than most of the others we’ve covered.

I’m guessing if you’re reading this there’s nothing I could tell you about Rammell that you don’t know already and by now various social networking sites and blogs are no doubt inundated with links to Beat Bop, Crazy Sneaker or Death Comet Crew so instead I thought I’d share a snippet of a rare cinematic siting of the former Getovett who once rode a bus talking to our friend Long Distance Dan about Iconic Panzerisms much to the bewilderment of the local grannies hoping for a quiet trip back to Raynes Park.

This is a quick glimpse of Rammellzee on the hustle in Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise, which also featured fellow lower east siders John Lurie and Richard Edson from The Lounge Lizards and Konk/Sonic Youth respectively, Jarmusch himself having a brief stint on the downtown music circuit with The Del Byzantines who appear alongside Rammell & Death Comet Crew on the excellent Anti NY compilation.

Anyway, I’ve got work to do and quite frankly I’m sad so I’ll leave you to watch this…

Rammellzee in Stranger Than Paradise