Some words on the unexpected, tragic passing of my friend, Lorde Jones aka Scorcese Shells aka ZipSquad JihaD:
In 2011, my work for The Combat Jack Show had started to get some notice around the internets, and via @DJBenhameen, Shells contacted me, asking me to do a cover for a single. Emails and texts were exchanged; calls and conversations soon led to getting up in real life. This was the beginning of an almost decade-long, multi-project creative partnership, which morphed into a friendship, and for that I feel extremely lucky.
To know him was to know his energy, his excitement, his enthusiasm; to work on a project with him was to have him be your new biggest fan, a person who was always searching, always growing, always wanting to get better. You couldn't help but feel empowered when you talked with him. These may be cliches, but they were true in my experience with him.
As I worked on this illustration after learning of his passing yesterday, I was listening to his album "A World Only Gods Know", which was done in partnership with the ultra-talented producer @alphadavis. This will always be my favorite project of his - because of all the conversation and ideas we had around it; because of his vision and our collaboration. So many of his words now feel prophetic, especially the track “Goodbye Life”; “Goodbye life, goodbye to my seeds / Hope I watered your strengths, nurtured your dreams / Hope I, provide understanding, tried to be a better man..." Listening to this album, I can hear his humor, his joy, his pain, his struggle, his love.
There are many words that can be used to describe Shells, but the one I would choose is thoughtful. All his albums showcase the depth and breadth of the thoughtfulness he brought to the dedication to his craft. His thoughtfulness in how he approached his projects, from the merchandise to the overall vision, was something I truly envy. You could see it in the people he collaborated with; how he found them, brought them together, and uplifted them. In this regard and many others, he was a king amongst men.
And therein lies a dual tragedy: the obvious ones of a young, talented, intelligent man, taken much too soon; leaving behind his partner and his sons; his mother, having fought and beaten cancer, who has now seen two sons pass in less than a year’s time. It is a loss for his family, related by blood or related by music, and now we all sit here wondering how, and why.
The other tragedy is that it felt like he was just on the cusp of getting the recognition he deserved; the hard work was finally about to pay off. He was getting better with every single project; I had planned to text him this weekend telling him how great the Nation GVNG album was. His relentless drive left me in awe, and I was never sure how he was able to handle so many things at once. You had to realize how big his heart was to be able to take all this on. In a way, it is reminiscent of Combat Jack; another person, taken away from us much too soon, just as the cusp of a new gear, a new level of recognition, overdue and well-deserved, was on the way.
But now I’m left with remembrances and emails; my conversation is one-way with my friend, through his music. And so the only way I can think to honor his memory is to ask everyone to listen, share, and purchase his music (search Nation GVNG, Insubordinate Records, A World Only Gods Know, and ZipSquad on Bandcamp).
Thoughts of strength and love to his family, his friends, and to those of us lucky to have had him in our lives. Safe travels on your journey through the upper realms you have ascended to, Shells. Until we meet again.
ZipSquad, Scorcese, Nation GVNG, forever.
