Saafir, Inventive and Dextrous Oakland Rapper, Dies at 54

Saafir, the raspy-voiced Oakland rapper who infused the rhythms of avant-garde jazz into his rhymes, died on Tuesday morning, according to family. He was 54.

A joint Instagram post by the rapper Xzibit and Saafir’s son explained that the rapper born Reggie Gibson died at 8:45 a.m., surrounded by friends and family.

“We surrounded him and let him know how much we loved him,” the post read. “He can rest now.”

No cause of death was announced. Saafir had long struggled with complications from a spinal surgery and other health problems.

With his early 1990s hip-hop crew Hobo Junction, Saafir made a name for himself as a lyrically dextrous and inventive rapper with a distinct, guttural style. He was at one point roommates with Tupac Shakur, and worked with the group Digital Underground. Shakur introduced Saafir to directors Albert and Allen Hughes, and Saafir appeared in their 1993 film Menace II Society.

After a legendary 1994 on-air freestyle battle between Hobo Junction and fellow East Bay collective Hieroglyphics, Saafir was offered a major record deal from Quincy Jones.

The resulting album, The Boxcar Sessions, bridged the dynamic pacing of jazz innovators like Eric Dolphy and Andrew Hill with the streetwise sounds and themes of crack-era Oakland. To celebrate its release, Saafir performed a free show in front of Leopold’s Records, just off Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, where Hobo Junction first began selling underground tapes.

Only a handful of albums followed. In 2013, on the blog of hip-hop historian Davey D, Shock G from Digital Underground explained Saafir’s absence from the scene in a sprawling list of accidents, afflictions and obstacles that went viral among hip-hop fans. Saafir later disputed parts of Shock G’s recollection, and offered his account in an interview with the San Francisco Bay Guardian, where he detailed the challenges of navigating the healthcare system.

Saafir, who used a wheelchair after his spinal surgery, made very few appearances over the past 15 years. He often attended Dream Day, however, an annual tribute to his late friend and graffiti artist Mike “Dream” Francisco. In 2014, he appeared onstage in San Francisco to perform his hit “Light Sleeper,” supported by the show’s headliner and his former battle nemesis from Hieroglyphics, Casual.

Though the famous freestyle battle on KMEL pitted Saafir against Casual as enemies in the public imagination, the two retained their respect for each other.

In a short documentary, The Battle, Saafir addressed Casual: “You really brought out the best. You made me wanna be a monster, and I respect it.”

Saafir is survived by a son — the rapper known as Lil Saafir — and a brother. No services have been announced.