2 were people that I have known in my personal life.
The other 2 were musicians that came to prominence in my younger years
I'll talk about the 2 people I know personally first, then I'll go over the celebrities
1) Francis Akana
This guy used to be one my supervisors when I was working for the summer program at Palama Settlement back in 2005 and 2006.
facebook
Palama Settlement
I did have a previous volunteer experience with elementary students back in 1998 (a summer program for "Future Teachers" when I was in high school) and I did start being a sub teacher in May 2005.
But in June 2005, it was my first full-on, everyday experience working as a full-fledged staff member in charge of the younger ones. Yeah, it can be (no, it is) an overwhelming experience. But there was some fun times too, with field trips, the dance classes, and the game room.
Vince DeBina was the Recreation Director (and the king) but Francis Akana was more in charge of the day-to-day operations of the summer program.
He was a cool laid back kind of guy with a crazy sense of humor. But if things go wrong, he can get really, really grumpy. But you didn't have to worry about him yelling at you. In fact, he was the main guy telling me to not yell at the kids.
Even after I stopped working at the summer programs, I still visited Palama Settlement to talk with Vince and Francis, as well as Leila (Francis wife).
Sadly, Francis got cancer and was unable to work.
This was going on for years.
Last Saturday, I found out on facebook that Francis Akana had passed away.
I dont know the details and I didn't want to ask for details. I'm sure cancer took a toll, but I'm not sure if there was more to it.
Here's the Star Advertiser's obituary for Francis Akana
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20130430_Obituaries.html?id=205345671
Francis K. Akana
March 30, 2013
Francis K. Akana, 66, of Honolulu, a retired Palama Settlement gym supervisor, died in Honolulu. He was born in Honolulu. He is survived by wife Leila; sons Shawn K. and Shane; daughter Shonna Vaovasa; brothers Chester, Micey and Suki; and three grandchildren. Visitation: 10 a.m. Saturday at Mililani Downtown Mortuary. Services: 11 a.m. Aloha attire. Flowers welcome.
Francis Akana will be missed by the many people at Palama Settlement.
2) Glenn Cannon
Glenn Cannon was known in Hawaii as an actor and a director.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20130423__Actor_brought_passion_integrity_to_stage.html?id=204243181
Star Advertiser photo
He was also a UH-Manoa professor in the school's theater program.
Back in my undergrad years, one of my core requirements included an arts requirement. I took 2 theater courses. (No, I wasn't in any of the school plays, I wasn't at that level)
Cannon taught the second course.
While Cannon can be a nice person in regular settings, I don't care for his teaching style.
All he does is give you a script from a play, tell you to practice it, and then make you act it in a final group performance.
He doesn't coach you in between getting the script and your final performance. He expects you to get up there and take his grilling, nevermind that he never coached us much (if at all) in the time between.
That may be fine for experienced actors, but as beginners, I'd prefer to have a more individualized coaching while we practice instead of being grilled in front of the whole group in our final performance.
I guess it goes to show some people are better matched to teach experienced professionals instead of coaching beginning amatuers.
But you know what? I'd rather rap and sing on stage than to be a stage/film actor anyways. No disrespect to the actors. I just got a difference preference, that's all!
And again, I don't mean to be much of a disrespect to Mr Cannon. I just got to be honest, that's all!
His ways worked for many performers out there, he had a passion, and he will be missed by in the film/stage industry.
3) Chris Kelly
On May 1, 2013, Chris Kelly was found dead in his own home. There has been speculation of death from a drug over-dose.
Chris Kelly was one-half of the hip-hop duo Kris Kross.
Kris Kross rose to fame as a kiddie-rap group who started making hits in 1992
Catherine McGann/Getty Images
Chris 'Daddy Mac' Smith and Chris 'Mac Daddy' Kelly of Kriss Kross.
which was followed up with "Warm it Up" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAhp17Mp7Xs
They had a few minor hits afterwards.
A few years later, as Kriss Kross went into late adolesence, they had an image makeover as being "Young, Rich, and Dangerous"
Wikipedia
With the biggest hit from that era "Tonight's the Night" (my favorite song from them)
Their song "Live and Die for Hip-Hop" featuring Da Brat, Mr. Black, Jermaine Dupri, and Aaliyah
(It's funny to see former kid rappers running from the cops in this one)
Afterwards, Kriss Kross faded into obscurity as both members moved on to adulthood, and pursued other interests
But earlier this year, Kris Kross came back for a legendary performance at So-So Def Records 20th Anniversary.
Their performance of "Warm it Up" was their strongest performance in that video, and plus, the bassline in that performance is perfect for any car stereo!
That would be the last major performance for the duo!
That would be the last major performance for the duo!
Credit: CNN
Chris Kelly and Chris Smith
(aka Kris Kross : the adult edition)
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As for the impact of Kris Kross, it was much bigger than we expected when they first came out.
Back then, they were mostly known for wearing their pants backward.
But they weren't even the first kid rap group to go mainstream. Another Bad Creation (ABC) did that a year before Kris Kross.
But here are some other major impacts of Kris Kross
------ one of the earliest rap stars from Atlanta. It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Atlanta didn't dominate the hip-hop scene. Back in the 80's, it was all New York, in the early 90's the West Coast took over. Miami had 2 Live Crew, but the rest of the South didn't get much attention in the hip-hop scene.
But with Kris Kross and TLC both coming out in 1992 (and ABC the year before), it forced the hip-hop world to pay more attention to the Atlanta scene.
Jermaine Dupri discuss how Kris Kross popularity brought hip-hop's attention to Atlanta.
Ever since then, Atlanta overshadowed Motown and Harlem as the center of African-American pop culture. This is not meant as a disrespect to Motown and Harlem, but to show how much impact the city of Atlanta has on African-American pop-culture within the last 2 decades. I mean, just listen to any hip-hop/R&B radio station, the Atlanta stars now outnumber everyone else.
---- I mentioned Jermaine Dupri a few paragraphs earlier. Today we know Jermaine Dupri as this mega-star producer who created tons of stars (ie. Da Brat, X-scape, Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Monica, Usher, Lil Jon and tons, tons, tons, tons more) and collaborated with many other stars (ie Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Nas, Mary J Blige, etc.)
But Jermaine Dupri's 1st claim to fame? Working with Kris Kross. He was their producer.
When Jermaine Dupri appeared in Kris Kross "Warm it Up" video, most of us didn't know who that was. He was just another guy in the background to most of us.
But the hits from Kris Kross empowered Jermaine Dupri to became a mega-producer and star-maker that he is today.
Jermaine Dupri paying tribute to Chris Kelly here
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/chris-kellys-mentor-jermaine-dupri-i-wish-i-could-have-saved-him-201335
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/chris-kellys-mentor-jermaine-dupri-i-wish-i-could-have-saved-him-201335
4) Jeff Hanneman
On May 2, 2013 , Jeff Hanneman passed away in a hospital after two years of recovering from a fatal spider bite
Jeff Hanneman was the guitar player for the influential heavy metal band Slayer
Wikipedia
Slayer shocked the world in late 1980s and early 1990s with their extremely fast, extremely heavy guitar sounds, and their shocking themes on religion, death, societal disorder and war.
Their most controversial song was "Angel of Death" which described the torture of Nazi death camps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_zsJ8KPP0
Jeff Hanneman (who wrote the lyrics) defended the song with this
http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3153
KNAC.COM: And that influences your writing today still, obviously.
HANNEMAN: Oh yeah. Right before I wrote “Angel Of Death,” I read a bunch of books about [Nazi Doctor Josef] Mengele because he was pretty sick. That was how “Angel Of Death” came about.
KNAC.COM: And that’s a HUGE misinterpretation --people misconceive Slayer as being Satanic, Nazis, and Racists, etc. and that’s one of the main songs where people go, “Oh my God! Angel Of Death -- that’s so pro-Nazi!”
HANNEMAN:"I know why people misinterpret it – it's because they get this knee–jerk reaction to it. When they read the lyrics, there's nothing I put in the lyrics that says necessarily he was a bad man, because to me – well, isn't that obvious? I shouldn't have to tell you that."
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_Death_(song)
The song drew accusations of racism, although the band denied these claims.[2] In addition, the band's producer and close friend Rick Rubin has Jewish ancestry, their vocalist/bassist Tom Araya is Chilean, their drummer Dave Lombardo is Cuban, and King had a guest appearance on the Jewish hip hop group Beastie Boys' song "No Sleep till Brooklyn".[2] The band members are often asked about the accusations in interviews, and have stated numerous times that they do not condone racism and are merely interested in the subject.[13]
That article entry also forgot to mention that Slayer also did a song with gangsta-rap legend Ice-T "Disorder" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBYfSw2yLsw
So much for racism accusations against Slayer
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Decades after Slayer shocked the world with "Angel of Death", they tried to shock the world with "Jihad", which was sung from the Islamic terrorist perspective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZUGa1R5LSs
But you can only shock for so long before people just tune you out, as Slayer discovered
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_Death_(song)
In 2006, the song "Jihad" from Slayer's 2006 album Christ Illusion drew comparison to "Angel of Death".[14] "Jihad" deals with the September 11, 2001 attacks, and tells the story from a terrorist's perspective. Vocalist Araya was expecting the subject matter to create a similar backlash to that of "Angel of Death", although it did not materialise,[15] in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is "just Slayer being Slayer"
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As for other Slayer songs
Seasons in the Abyss (one of Slayer's "slower" songs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvuO2EvCTAE
Dittohead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qd12Hgx43g
Raining Blood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKILvAggpYw
Mandatory Suicide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI4e4RDhUwo
The previous 2 songs got sampled by Lil Jon for one of the crazies rap-metal songs ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnnxffxTTwc
Those were the main ones I remember. If you really want to talk more about Slayer, you'd have to talk to my brother. He's the one who introduced me to Slayer, and he's the one who has copies of their albums.
I did listen to a lot of heavy metal (again, thanks to my brother) back in the 1990's, though most of my peers (mostly hip-hop fans) didn't know it back then. I did listen to a lot of Metallica, Pantera, Biohazard and Sepultura. I also got into the nu-metal (Disturbed, Evanescence) and off course my favorite metal genre ...... rap-metal (Limp Bizkit #1) I did listen to some Slayer, but not as much as my brother.
