Esteemed Hip Hop podcaster and beloved industry figure Reggie “Combat Jack” Ossé has passed away, multiple sources have confirmed on social media. He was 48.
Ossé announced in October that he’d recently been diagnosed with colon cancer and was undergoing surgery, which prevented him from recording an episode of The Combat Jack Show for the first time in seven years.
“In 7 years of podcasting, I’ve never missed an episode,” he wrote. “I got hit with some real life shit. I was recently diagnosed with Colon Cancer. I was rushed to the hospital, had some pretty severe surgery,” he continued. “I’m on the mend right now. I’m about to jump on this journey to health with chemo and alternative medicine. “Take care of your health,” he told his fans. “Your boy aint going nowhere though. We’re going to keep doing this. Keep rocking’ with us.”
Ossé graduated from Cornell University where he was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He then pursued a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and wound up representing some of Hip Hop’s elite (including JAY-Z, Dame Dash, Busta Rhymes and Roc-A-Fella Records) during a legal affairs internship at Def Jam Recordings in 1989. For 12 years, he worked tirelessly as an attorney. Some of his other clients included Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, Bad Boy Records, Usher and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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After retiring from his law practice in the early 2000s, he jumped into writing the book Bling: The Hip Hop Jewelry Book, a story about Hip Hop’s love affair with jewelry. That led to writing for a multitude of Hip Hop blogs before he started The Combat Jack podcast in 2010.
“I knew there was something out there for me than just being an attorney,” he told HipHopDX in 2015. “And I had a voice too. It was like, ‘Why is this attorney now blogging about the music industry?’ I wasn’t concerned about cats’ insecurities.”
Last spring, Ossé was commissioned by Spotify to boost their podcast initiative with Gimlet Media and launched the original series, Mogul. The first seriest, The Life & Death of Chris Lighty went into great detail throughout its 19-episode run about the timeline of the fallen Violator management founder.
Through all of his various endeavors, which included a Managing Editor role at The Source and a stint as Vice President of Audio/Music DVD at MTV Networks, he held firm to one belief.
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“My mantra was always that when going after a career that if you don’t love it and you’re not having fun, then do something else,” he said.
Upon hearing the news of Ossé’s passing, many Hip Hop media personalities and artists shared their memories.
Words by Chris Mitchell, Kyle Eustice and Trent Clark.
