In 2016, several music icons passed and it seemed like the deaths would not end until the very end of the year. Icons like Prince and David Bowie who commanded the pop landscape for 40 years were gone suddenly and unexpectedly. Sharon Jones was just beginning to gain more recognition before passing of Cancer after a two-year fight. Many music fans are just happy for 2016 to be over after experiencing so much loss. The sadness from the passing of so many important voices is only assuaged by the fact that each artist has an immortal influence through their work.

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Prince Be, one of the founding members of rap group PM Dawn passed Friday at the age of 46 from renal failure. PM Dawn was popular in the ’90’s because of their single, “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” and was known as one the early hippie units in rap. They also touched the mainstream with their single “I’d Die Without You” from the Boomerang soundtrack. Prince Be suffered from diabetes for years and had a massive stroke in 2005 that partially paralyzed him. KRS-One added to Prince Be’s legend after he famously confronted him onstage in 1992 for questioning KRS calling himself a teacher. Many rap historians look at the incident as proof of Prince Be’s declining relevance in rap but PM Dawn and KRS-One made important contributions. There is no left field, weirdness and any kind of New Age influence in hip-hop without the mentioning of PM Dawn.