Buffalo’s rap community is currently mourning the recent passing of DJ Shay who is famous for his long-time collaboration with Griselda records and Westside Gunn, among other things. He was 48. He was the founder of the Buff City record label, and also Executive Producer for Black Soprano Family (BSF).
The exact cause of death hasn’t been revealed but it was known that DJ Shay had been battling COVID-19. As such, there has been a lot of online discussion speculating that coronavirus was most likely to blame.
Either way, it’s a huge loss for the community regardless of what lead to his passing. It’s also serves as a rude awakening that coronavirus aka COVID-19 aka is still an active threat, and there’s a need to protect ourselves regardless of what line of work we’re in.
Westside Gunn (Photo: Instagram)
Westside Gunn, a long-time colleague and friend of DJ Shay, took to Instagram to offer some words on the recent passing of the musician:
“U was there EVERY step of the way, It was an honor to help your dream come true for Buffalo Hip Hop, u looked at me and said ‘thx to you it’s no more Unsigned city… it’s signed city now, U wanted this shit more than ALL of US, it wouldn’t be a Benny, WSG, Armani, Conway, BSF if it wasn’t for You to watch u DJ was special it was like u were a kid behind those boards, your last thing u said to me was when u beat Corona u wanted a Buffalo Kids Chain I pray to GOD he got u Icey bc u are the biggest BUFFALO KID of them All.”
We would like to express our condolences to the family of DJ Shay and everyone that was close with him on Griselda Records. You can leave your messages of support on DJ Shay’s Instagram page @DJShayBSF.
Rest In Peace DJ Shay
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Written by Kyle McNeil for HipHopCanada
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