Saafir, the celebrated Oakland rapper who became a stalwart figure in the world of early Nineties West Coast hip-hop, died Tuesday, Nov. 19, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. He was 54.
Saafir’s family confirmed his death, saying he died around 8:45 Tuesday morning surrounded by loved ones. An exact cause of death was not given, though Saafir (real name Reggie Gibson) reportedly had been struggling with various health issues, including spinal cancer and complications from spinal surgery.
Xzibit, who co-founded the Golden State Project with Saafir and Ras Kass, posted a tribute on social media, writing, “We have so much history I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now. We surrounded him and let him know how much we loved him. He can rest now.”
Gibson spent much of his adolescence moving in and out of group homes and trying to make a life for himself on the streets. He found his way to music in the early Nineties after being discovered by Digital Underground’s Shock G, who gave Saafir the chance to make his recorded debut on DU’s 1993 album, The Body-Hat Syndrome. (Gibson also lived, for a brief time, with another Digital Underground associate, Tupac Shakur.)
Gibson went on to appear in the 1993 film Menace II Society, formed the Hobo Junction crew, and released his debut album, Boxcar Sessions, on Quincy Jones’ Qwest Records in 1994. Boxcar Sessions’ lead single, “Light Sleeper,” appears on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest West Coast Hip-Hop Songs.
But it was a 1994 rap battle that cemented Gibson’s legend and place in hip-hop history. The battle, broadcast on San Francisco’s KMEL, found Gibson and Hobo Junction squaring off against their Bay Area rivals, Casual and Hieroglyphics. The pair had actually collaborated before, with Saafir guesting on Casual’s debut album, but as the pair discussed later, bad blood surfaced after Casual bailed on a recording date for Boxcar Sessions.
Word of the battle quickly spread, garnering national media coverage in The Source and bringing newfound attention to Bay Area hip-hop. And while the question of who “won” has always been split, Gibson’s performance undeniably stood out.
As Sway, then-co-host of the KMEL radio show that aired the battle, recalled in a 2014 oral history for HipHopDX, “I think Saafir benefited the most because it was him taking on all of them [Hieroglyphics] even though his brothers and his family were there.”
Gibson followed Boxcar Sessions and the KMEL battle with two more albums, 1998’s Trigonometry and 1999’s The Hit List. He also linked up with Xzibit and Ras Kass, with the trio calling themselves the Golden State Warriors, before the NBA team of the same name forced them to change their name to Golden State Project. While the group released some unofficial freestyles, no official Golden State Project recordings were ever released.
Around this time, Gibson was briefly signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records. But a parole violation in 2003 — he was driving a stolen car when he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop — landed him back in jail and his music career stalled.
“I was back to nothing,” Saafir told the Chronicle in 2007, adding of the music industry: “You don’t have no friends, it’s all business. Everything was about the hustle.”
While in prison, Gibson converted to Islam and the album he released after his release, Good Game: The Transition, was deeply inspired by his spiritual journey, as well as several near-death experiences. (In 1992, just before his music career began, Gibson sustained injuries while on TWA Flight 843, which crashed after an aborted takeoff.
Gibson released one more EP, Fast Lane, in 2009, but the health issues that emerged after his release from prison forced him to step back from his career. Still, music remained a significant part of his life, especially during tough moments like when his spinal cancer diagnosis required him to use a wheelchair. As he told the Chronicle in that 2007 interview, “This is the only therapy I get, doing hip-hop.”
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