Can’t nobody come out here and say what he did in his life and who was important and who wasn’t. We was all family to X-1 and he was a VERY caring person when it came to his peoples. So everyone need to just let the man rest in peace and hold your own memories close to you. I personally talk to the wife and I can say she’s very suspicious ... jealousy killed him.
–Posting on www.bboys.com
Slain New York rap icon Biggie Smalls once said, “You’re nobody until somebody kills you.” His message was morbidly surreal: Try as you might to write your name in the pages of history, your life’s value will be determined in death. It’s a scenario that appears to be playing out in the recent rumored demise of X-1, a rapper of estimable esteem who was probably best known as the younger brother of Kirk Jones, aka Sticky Fingaz of legendary ’90s rap moshers Onyx.
In the weeks since his reported death on July 5, the Brooklyn-born, Queens-bred, Vegas transplant has become a hot topic on hip-hop websites—e-mailers expressing sadness, insinuating foul play and sniping at each other for not letting the 28-year-old rapper rest in peace; more words written about him in death than in life, some of them carrying an almost banal feel—now that he’s gone, let’s talk about how great he was.
More pressing than the postmortem analysis of his life is finding out what happened to X-1. Because information is so sketchy, not even authorities can offer cogent responses.
Some hip-hop sites claim he died in Las Vegas; others say Los Angeles. Speculation about suicide is countered by theories of chicanery—he was a ladies’ man and, some allege, might’ve dabbled in pimping. Posts on website comment boards vehemently deny he did anything untoward.
Officials at Xplosive magazine promised to track down Rachel Wright, a magazine contributor and friend of X-1; she never responded. Elsewhere, his story simply dead-ends. Attempts to reach his brother, rapper-actor Kirk Jones—unsuccessful. Calls to two numbers listed for his record label, Dynasty Records—not returned by press time. Even authorities in LA and Vegas are stumped.
Capt. Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office (which investigates homicides, suicides, poisonings and accidental deaths) searched death records for July 5 and came up with nada. “We had a man die from falling off scaffolding, but that’s about it,” he says.
The Los Angeles police database is too large, encompassing 19 geographic regions, to search without more specifics, spokeswoman Sandra Gonzalez tells the Weekly. She says the July 5 suicide of a 28-year-old African-American male doesn’t ring any bells.
Clark County coroner’s office spokeswoman Samantha Charles says she “saw the same information about the decedent that you did.” Presuming that X-1 shares the same last name as his brother (Jones), investigators checked their files and compiled a short list of one dead man surnamed Jones. He was 85 years old. Word around the hip-hop blogosphere is that X-1 could be buried in Vegas or in New York.
Metro police officials say they’re similarly handicapped. Without a full name, Social Security number or some other identifying characteristic—where and how he died—“it’s like we’re chasing ghosts.”
Because he had vital East Coast and industry connections (friends with 50 Cent, recorded with Wu-Tang) and a widening base of support in the 702, members of the local hip-hop community say X-1 will be sorely missed. Rapper Spoaty Mac appreciated his work ethic and hip-hop pedigree.
“When I was running [now defunct] Big B’s records,” says DJ Tyson White, who’s worked with platinum-selling Compton rapper The Game, “X-1’s album was promoted heavily around town, and his album Young, Rich & Gangsta was readily available through major music distributors. “I’ve never seen an album so heavily promoted like it was. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
Perhaps as the days and weeks pass, more concrete information will come out about the circumstances surrounding X-1’s alleged death. Best anyone can hope for is that the truth will surface, which, no matter if he took his own life or had it taken from him—if he is indeed dead—will help in making an honest appraisal of his time on Earth.
Illustration by Craig LaRotonda