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Saafir, a veteran rapper who made music alongside fellow West Coast icons like Digital Underground and Ras Kass, has passed away.
On Tuesday, November 19, former Golden State Project member Xzibit mourned the loss of his friend Saafir, born Reggie Dobson, in a lengthy eulogy on Instagram. X confirmed Dobson transitioned at 8:45 a.m. this morning. He was 54. He didn't reveal a cause of death, however, Saafir reportedly suffered from "various medical issues" according to TMZ.
"We have so much history I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now," X wrote. "We surrounded him and let him know how much we loved him. He can rest now."
Born in Oakland, Calif., Saafir got his start in the music industry in the early '90s as a dancer with Digital Underground. He was living with the late Tupac Shakur when he began his career. He eventually got his big break on Digital Underground's album The Body-Hat Syndrome in 1993. He landed a record deal with Qwest Records a year later and dropped his debut album Boxcar Sessions. He rapped under a different stage name, Mr. No No, for his 1998 LP Trigonometry followed by his third album The Hit List in 1999.
At one point in his career, Saafir also joined forces with Xzibit and Ras Kass to form a rap group called The Golden State Project, formerly known as Golden State Warriors. He also dabbled in the acting world after he landed the role as Caine's cousin Harold in the 1993 classic Menace II Society.
Saafir's health issues reportedly began back in 2005 when he was diagnosed with a cancerous spinal tumor. In a 2013 interview with 48Hills, Saafir said that he got surgery to remove the tumor before it paralyzed him. However, the rapper's condition worsened over time and he eventually needed a wheelchair.
"I didn’t really go into telling people I was in a wheelchair or disabled because a lot of people don’t want to be bothered with it," he explained. "They pretend like they do but in reality they don’t really want to deal with that s**t. And I understand that. I don’t take it personally. So to avoid any harsh feelings or bitterness towards either party, I just keep it to myself and just deal with it. I don’t have a problem with asking anybody for help or allowing people to help me or whatnot but people have their own agenda, people have their own lives."
Saafir was survived by his son Saafir Gobson, who's also an artist, and his younger brother known as Chop Black. Watch him perform with the Golden State Project and the late Shock G below. May he rest in peace.