Despite his work toward to unify people in the Body of Christ, his own body was breaking down after he developed a rare blood disease called, Light Chains Disease. It led to him having failing kidneys, lungs and other ailments, and yet he insisted on using what he had to bring together the Body.
We spoke to Lecrae, Propaganda, and KJ-52 to discuss the legacy of DJ Official (aka Fish, a short form of O-Fish-al.) What came from them was the story of a uniter the Christian Hip-Hop scene desperately needed.
“When he was around, there was no Tunnel Rats, Reach, Cross Movement, or any of that. Labels faded to the back and he was just Nelson,” Humble Beast poet and emcee Propaganda stated.
Reach Records co-founder Lecrae points to DJ Official as the person that connected him to the greater CHH movement and gave him a larger opportunity despite the fact that the emcee had some songs that didn’t particularly fly with that camp.
“Fish was the person who brought my CD to John Wells (Cross Movement Records). He edited it and took out the songs and verses he didn’t like,” said Lecrae.
When KJ-52 first met DJ Official in 2000, Fish only hung out with KJ, which was odd to the rapper because Fish was there with his crew and that circle wasn’t the warmest or most accepting toward KJ – And when those tensions grew, Fish was the mediator for unity.
“He was the one that made sure the collab between me and Truth happened.”
When tension and perception kept two of CHH’s most known artists separate, Fish was the bridge builder between Lecrae and KJ. During a four hour layover in an airport where Lecrae just so happened to be in town, Fish took stock of where Lecrae was in life and in his career and told KJ, “Crae needs to hear from you.” That led to an impromptu, long over due meet up between the two emcees that was an “Important conversation for me and Lecrae. Fish made that happen.”
Again Lecrae recalled Fish’s role as a bridge builder, “He pulled everyone together. The Philly rappers, the Texas rappers, 808’s, boom-bap, everybody. He pulled us together.”
He did this while he was so sick, and he cried over his physical inability to have enough energy to help his family by taking out the garbage. This physical pain never silenced his humor. Official used humor, along with his faith to bring everyone together. Scripture informs us that “A merry heart does good like a medicine.”
“Fish always kept us laughing. On the tour bus, on stage, and in our group text thread. He ALWAYS had the memes on deck!” insisted Propaganda.
“Fish would walk on the bus and cut through all the clutter and craziness and at just the right time would yell out ‘IT SMELLS LIKE SIN ON THIS BUS!’” Lecrae reflected.
He didn’t limit his antics to the bus or text messages. He even took advantage of moments on stage to get a laugh out of his crew, both intentionally and unintentionally. “On the Higher Learning Tour, he walked off stage 3/4 through the song!”, Prop recalled while speaking through his own laughter. “I looked back and he was gone. I asked what happened and he said, ‘The stage manager told him ‘You’re over’,’ so he just walked off. But we’re in the middle of a song! Who does that?!”
“I had this deep, profound moment on stage before doing ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’. Then as a prank, to start off the track, he played the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song!” Crae said through laughter, citing this as one of his favorite memories. “This man would sneak whale sounds into a song!”
He was the life of the proverbial party, all while his life was slowly fading.
DJ Official never let his reputation or the humor be the thing that he leaned on for respect of his skill. Instead, he used it as the tool to unite by DJing and producing for various artists.
“‘Stand Up’ was a Fish track. It was the biggest thing in my mind. To have a Fish track was the biggest thing ever to me,” shared Lecrae.
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