THE MUSIC KEEPS ON PLAYING… A BLOG BY TIMBER WOLFWOOD

Sometimes days come in this industry where no matter who you are, your background, your style, your genre, all differences are put aside to remember fallen dancefloor soldiers, and yesterday was a particularly poignant example of this.

September 13th 2011 marked the 15 year anniversary of the death of one of america’s greatest urban poets; Tupac Shakur. A terrible loss for his family, friends and the hip hop industry, Shakur’s legacy is still ever present today as it was all those years ago. He is one of the few artist’s to sell more records post-humorously then he did whilst alive. Which I guess goes to not only show you something about middle America’s music buying habits, but also the reach of this iconic star and his message.

I was sat at my desk in Superfly HQ pondering the impact of Tupac and other musician’s who have now left us for the great gig in the sky when news began to break across the internet that would turn a reflective moment into something much more bittersweet…

One of the biggest stars in French dance music and lynch pin of the phenomenal ‘Ed Banger’ imprint DJ Mehdi had passed away. The shock hit me like a kick to the chest and reeling I forwarded the information on to rest of the Superfly office crew, who were struck with equal shock and dumbfounding.

‘No way man! I saw him perform with Riton as Carte Blanche not 2 days ago at Bestival!’ exclaimed our head of promotions Pasquale.

Eager for more information I took to the Twitterverse in hopes of mining some more information out of people about the shocking and untimely demise of yet another great musical pioneer. I had not long since clicked the bookmark on my browser before the extent of the news, and it’s reach within the dance music community could already be felt. Names such as Fake Blood and Shy FX, through to the likes of Toddla T & Annie Nightingale were all feverishly posting their condolences, memories and regrets. Away from all the usual bureaucracy and nepotism that surrounds professional artists there was an overwhelming sense of collective loss.

It will never cease to amaze me the effect some musicians can have on there peers, fans and friends alike. So many shining stars fade too soon into their short lives, but the warmth of their light inspires people eternally across generations irregardless.

So in memory I’m going to close the blog post with a dedication to some of music’s brightest stars, taken too soon, but will keep on shining as long as the music keeps on playing…

Until next time.

Timber Wolfwood x

DJ Mehdi – Signatune (T. Bangalter Edit)