Nine years ago today (May 25, 2008), MC/producer Camu Tao (aka Tero Smith) died after a battle with lung cancer. At a time when his solo career was gaining strong traction, the Columbus, Ohio native was a linchpin to The Weathermen, MHz, S.A. Smash, Nighthawks groups and El-P’s Definitive Jux movement. Perhaps in the shadow of collaborators like Cage, El-P, RJD2, and Copywrite, many believe that at the time of his passing, Camu was about to collect the props he deeply deserved.

In 2010, one of El-P’s last deeds with Def Jux was releasing King of Hearts, the solo LP Camu was working on (which expanding into singing). El reportedly named his own 2012 LP Cancer 4 Cure in Tao’s honor, while other members of the crews made their own tributes. One such tribute is Aesop Rock’s “Get Out The Car,” from last year’s The Impossible Kid.

Wow. Copywrite go IN lyrically on Mega Mega. Here’s the video ft Camu Tao, Tage, Jakki & RJD2

Rock, who worked with Camu on his “Rickety Rackety” and S.A. Smash’s “Love To F**k,” stands in a heartfelt mixed media video and mourns his friend and Weathermen cohort.

These powerfully personal bars say so much about what this loss meant to Aes’ and so many others:

“Here go the hindsight /Eight years been one long blindside / I could pinpoint seven more turns that occurred ’cause he never really healed from the first / Oh what a world / Any hack is a myth, any dap is a joke / Any map is a trick, any graph is a hoax / Ease on down, I’m burning up, I’m bleeding out / Knowing ain’t half the battle / That’s a bulls**t quip written by some a**hole / You can own what you are / And still sit around stoned in your car / Not doing s**t, halfway to nill / Cranky and waiting for a boss key and hat full of bills / Get out the car, Aes.”

15 Years Ago MF DOOM & Aesop Rock Shined Light Upon The “Black List” (Audio)

#BonusBeat: El and Camu reworking some Missy and Timbaland:

This released by Eastern Conference Records in 2003.