The same day Bay Area Hip Hop legend Pam The Funkstress passed away, another underground rap vet also quietly made his exit. According to Freestyle Fellowship’s Self Jupiter, Los Angeles staple Ganjah K (real name Keshaun McClendon) died on Friday (December 22) from suspected complications of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) although his official cause of death is still unconfirmed. He was 45.
“Damn! Just got news that one of my brother’s Keshaun McClendon (Ganjah K) Passed away friday,” he wrote on Facebook. “I literally just talked to him Wednesday. Damn!! My condolences to Buford McClendon and the entire McClendon family.”
Project Blowed luminary Abstract Rude came up alongside Ganjah K during the Good Life Cafe days. The L.A. eatery was a breeding ground for underground Hip Hop thanks to its weekly open mic night. Hip Hop legends like Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and The Pharcyde all rolled through its doors. Freestyle Fellowship — Self Jupiter, Aceyalone, Myka 9 and P.E.A.C.E. — were regulars, and are all part of Project Blowed.
“Ganjah K was probably as strong an early advocate for cannabis in Hip Hop as Bob Marley or any artist was in reggae,” Rude tells HipHopDX. “The bold pride he took in promoting its medicinal and economy changing properties through his music and overall life persona was pioneering, and undoubtedly an early key cog in high grade chronic’s pop appeal today.
“Beyond that, Keshaun was a loving father and dear to loved ones for those lucky enough to know him,” he continues. “He was a fun and comical friend to hang with. For all of his crew and fans of his music, he will forever be an O.G. Good Life and First Brigade/Freestyle Fellowship/Project Blowed Heavyweight, one of the illest to ever spit. Our Brother. An L.A. treasure. Ganjah K the Khronic MC.”
Myka 9 also told DX, “Ganjah K was a chopper and street rhymer with an underground MC drive and an independent Hip Hop approach. He was a battler also a baller. He could serve an MC then go in the studio and make a hit. He was a very good friend to me on many different levels. He originated the ‘chronic’ popularized by Dr. Dre. He always had the top shelf marijuana and his music itself would literally make you high. He was an avid pool player and family man. His daughter and my daughter are born on the same day and year with similar names — Aja and Aasha — and we’re both Capricorns. We always got along and always shared mutual respect on a qualified level. He also knew it’s all love.”
Self Jupiter shared a similar sentiment. “Ganjah K for me represented the complete emcee like a utility knife,” he said to DX. “He was truly one of the best. He unlocked a lot of hidden gems within me early on that made me who I am as a rapper. Perhaps it was the high grade bud crazy rap sessions or him summoning the beast out of you. We as Fellowship members did that with each other but it didn’t happen until we aligned as a unit I think. Heavyweights!”
A GoFundMe account has been set up in his name to help his family with funeral costs and mounting medical bills.
Tributes started pouring in over the weekend from friends and loved ones, including Freestyle Fellowship, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Myka 9.
Damn that ups and downs shit and the one off of the thin line between love n hate were fire
Rip
R.I.P. to the big homie. Black Eyed Peas, Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5 and many other groups would have never existed had it not been for this Cat. I’m am divided between glad and sad that millenials will never know who this dude was…
Rest in Hip Hop Heaven Ganja! I felt the loss of two Great West Coast Legends . I respect , admire and loved your flow since you came on the scene! From GoodLife to Project Blowed! You will go down in our museum forever!
Rip to a Cali legend yell
RIP Man. Hella slept on. I still bump that 2 Hard 2 Swallow sometimes along with Erule and The Nonce shit. I have these days when I gotta listen to only West Coast underground.
Pioneers get one article like this cat and Combat Jack, yet Lil Peepee got 9 when he contributed NOTHING to this culture. Thanks for the lack of respect NotHipHopDX!
What did you do go and count them? Get a life. At least someone did the legwork to write something about him. Noone else did.
@Okaaaayyy And how would you know how many folks left an article for this man? The readers of HHDX, myself included, were met with an onslaught of articles about that little white shithead. You should get Lil Peeps decrepit maggot filled nuts outcha mouf, bitch boy.
It’s called Google.
I just farted and shit my pants. Banana Twinkies are the bees knees
I’m sure Ganjah was tight with The D.O.C back in the day. Did he get shouted out on No One Can Do It Better?
I love old FF and PB music, but not gonna lie, I didn’t know who he was. RIP anyway, if he has solo albums I’ll go and check em out. They aren’t as well known in the underground as Aceyalone’s albums, but if he came from Project Blowed they can’t be bad.
He was featured in both the Heavyweights songs on the FF & PB, so unconsciously you might have listened to him. Good MC, Just like most of the Project Blowed crew. RIP.
R.I.P Keshaun, I knew the brotha since 7th grade we grew up in the same hood in LA – i gave him rides home when i started driving in 87′ known him all my teen life. this is very sad, the brotha will be missed. we lost another homie of ours from the same community in 2016, i hope the two are together baggin on each other in heaven like the use to do on the school bus and school. He had a best friend that was killed in the early 90s, i hope they are together again. god bless you brotha. love you brotha keshaun.
“Walking through the party trying to find my way. Bumped into my main man, Ganjah K. I gave a ni99a a pound, and we lit up a J. I took a hit and a half and got high in the hay.” ~Aceyalone on “Knownots”
RIP to a West Coast legend! The first guys I ever heard freestyle, straight off the top with no written rhymes, were Aceyalone, Myka 9, Self Jupiter, PEACE, and Ganjah K. Not sure if they were the first to do it, but they were damn sure the first ones to make it a major part of the culture. In the 90s, you couldn’t be a real emcee if you couldn’t come off the dome. True innovators!