El Da Sensei took to social media on Monday (August 5) to announce longtime friend and DJ for the Artifacts crew, Shawn “DJ Kaos” Perry, had passed away. The tenured Hip Hop trio — comprised of El Da Sensei, DJ Kaos and Tame One — got together in ’90s.
“With a very heavy heart I’m so sorry to say me and Tame have lost our DJ/Brother/friend Shawn Djkaos Perry today,” El wrote in a Facebook post. “I’m truly sad right now and I never thought I’d be posting anything like this about my brother Kaos.”
Perry became the group’s permanent DJ following Artifacts’ 1994 Between A Rock and A Hard Place debut, becoming a fixture on their sophomore That’s Them LP — a role he took over from the late Roc Raida. El revealed Kaos actually had to audition for Artifacts through Raida.
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In a 2017 interview with 247HH, the group explained Raida — who provided all the cuts for their debut — had ultimately decided to walk away from the group after becoming more involved in the DMC circuit. (He won the 1995 DMC World DJ Championship and was inducted into the DMC Hall of Fame in 1999.)
Through the group split up not long after the release of their sophomore project (with Tame, El Da Sensei and Kaos all remaining individually active), the group reunited after an impromptu on-stage appearance during Rocksteady Crew’s anniversary weekend in 2008. They’ve been performing and recording together ever since.
Sensei’s sentiments carried on via Instagram where he called Perry the group’s Jam Master Jay.
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“DJ Kaos will be the only Artifacts DJ ever … he is our Jam Master Jay!!! There will never be another,” El wrote. — also sharing love for his partner-in-rhyme Tame One. “This will make us stronger!!!”
HipHopDX sends their deepest condolences to Kaos’ family and friends. A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover his funeral costs. No cause of death has been revealed.
