Kase2 King of Style Passes Away to Lung Cancer.

Style King. Such was one definition of Kase2. For me Kase2 was the first embodiement of camouflage within a piece and ironically I had crossed his very same words in 1982′s Style Wars, a documentary I had only crossed in 1996 when in high school.

I first met Kase2, the King of Style in 2004 at the Queensbridge Park Jams organized by Tools of War. It was one of those celebrity sightings for me, a legend of Style Wars. I was known back then as I am today, Mickey Boston, and the aspect of a name lives with you everywhere one will go in the journey of life. To others, he was known as Jeffrey and to even others, he was Jeffrey ”King Kase2″ Brown.

1982 was the year I was born. Kase2 was already a legend and featured in Style Wars. Having mentioned all this, he was putting up more art by the summer of ’82 and ’83  while I was just being born. In essence, I am attempting to streess the longevity and presence of Kase2, an artist that marked his presence before many of us even know what art was. The artistic and social contributions of Kase2 are numerous and undeniably could not be fathomed in one sitting, nor in one piece that would just say it all.

Of course, the war on art and the tough municipal laws set in motion by the Koch city-hall administration did not deter a Style King like Kase2 to either be intimidated or to extinguish the passion for art that continued to burn in him; indeed, he continued to burn walls under pressure with or without Butch2 by his side.

“Computer Rock” itself was ahead of its time and here we all are, most likely reading this from a computer monitor or screen over the internet. A member of the Fantastic Partners (TFP), when one saw Kase2 within the History of Hip Hop documentary film, one couldnt help to notice the fantastic personality he had. Of course, who knew that this was the exact train that was on the brink of popularlizing the hollistic conceit of train car bombing during the 70s.

Kase2 never made drama out of his handicap, undoubtedly it was the personification of what talent was, without denying, ultramagnetic talent. Kase2 passed away in the Bronx, the borrough in which it all started not just for him but for an entire global sub-culture.

Below is a clip I filmed which features none other than Bronx Graffiti Legend, COPE2, dropping a tribute piece in hommage and recognition of KASE2. It was filmed in Montreal. The score for the clip features “Metal Centipedes” (Mickey Boston feat. Ill Mestizo and DJ Conn-Shawnery).