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Kool DJ AJ Dead: Kurtis Blow Confirms Hip-Hop Pioneer’s Passing, Had Been Battling Stomach Cancer

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 01:53 PST, Sep 10, 2015

Hip-hop pioneer Kool DJ AJ has died. His close friend Kurtis Blow took to his Twitter account on Wednesday to confirm the passing of the musician.

The reason for his death, as well as his exact age, are still unknown at this point. However, back in July, Kurtis Blow and Rahiem of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five both tweeted that Kool DJ AJ had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Kool DJ AJ moved to Jacksonville, Florida after both his parents died before he was 13, where he was raised by his grandmother. He then relocated to New York.

According to an interview back in 2006 with Tha Foundation, via Hip Hop DX, Kool DJ AJ got his start in the music business as a promoter.

But he developed his reputation as a DJ after going to see Busy Bee perform in the Bronx, New York in the late 1970s.

Kool DJ AJ worked extensively with Blow throughout the 1980s, while he also DJ’d into the 1990s too. During this time, DJ AJ worked with a number of other artists, including Busy Bee. Kool DJ AJ retired for hip-hop in 2010.

The hip-hop community soon took to Twitter to showcase their adulation for Kool DJ AJ, as well as offering their deepest condolences to his friends and family.

[Image via Instagram]

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