Shocking and sad news... he had emailed me a little over a week ago to say he'd just recorded material for a collab we'd talked about a while ago before he got his diagnosis. I was really surprised, I thought, "Damn what a trooper", that must be feeling pretty decent...
Though he might not have really embraced the term in the context in which I mean it, I always considered him one of the few true ARTISTS operating in this field. May he Rest In Peace.