āEven if it gets worse, they canāt stop thisā: Combat Jack, Rest in Power
Like a lot of other people, Iām saddened, Iām shocked, and I got tears running down my face right now. All my love goes out to his immediate family, as well as his LSN family. The world has lost a titan today.
If thereās a reason most any of you know me, thereās a 99% chance itās due to Reggie āCombat Jackā Osse. I went from being a fan of his writing, to doing graphics for his Daily Mathematics blog, to creating logos for the Combat Jack show, the Loud Speakers Network, and most popularly making showbills, our name for the flyers we created for the different guests.
From the beginning, I listened along religiously every week to TCJS - those who know remember when the crew of Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, DJ Benhameen, Matt Raz, and Just Blaze (with occasional appearances by Chris Morrow) were the nucleus of the show.
I donāt know if I can convey how important the showbills were (and are) for me. It was a weekly adventure to make something new and interesting and - most importantly - something that would make Combat react positively. That was always the goal. If I could get Combat to get fired up behind it, I would feel good. And if I could make the show look good, so much the better.
To have this guy allow me to be part of that, in any small way I could, with the art I created... it was an honor. I can say truly, itās the body of work Iām most proud of to this very day.
Because of Combat, I got to meet great people IRL - including the man himself. I got to link up with other internets like Jaislayer and LP. Iāve gotten to work with some great indie artists, as well as gotten some shots with the majors. They didnāt pan out, but I always appreciated that CJ would even recommend me. He didnāt have to. He had plenty of talent around him.
And those hip-hop variant covers? They wouldnāt exist without Combat. Period. The ONLY reason I got my shot is from Chris Robinson, now editor at Marvel Comics, seeing the showbills and being into my work. Combat made a life-long dream of mine come true. And as he always said, ādream those dreams...ā
A lot of people have listened to that Black Thought freestyle, and those in the know knew what that āthis shit for Combatā line meant. And as I listened to it, I thought, I canāt wait for him to get back on his feet. I canāt wait to hear him back on the podcast. I canāt wait to hear what the next season of āMogulā will be.
The quote in the title of this post, if you might not know, is from The Roots song, āCanāt Stop This.ā Itās a track from albumĀ āGame Theoryā in which the group mourns the loss of their friend J Dilla, which seems (very unfortunately) particularly appropriate now. And if you know from the early days of the show, one of the sayings was, āit doesnāt ever stop.ā Reggie Osse might be gone in the physical form, but he has birthed many lives that will continue on.
Energy is never created nor destroyed, it is only redirected. If any of us who have been touched by his life take anything moving forward, it should be to use his energy, his drive, his passion, and his intellect in a way that honors his memory.
Rest in Power, Combat. Thank you for everything. You are, and will be, missed.
