Sims Joints: Son of S.O.U.L. tribute

We lost our dear friend Masimba “Son of S.O.U.L.” Kadzirange recently. Needless to say, it’s been pretty rough around Cratery headquarters. We all had our own individual relationships with Masimba. And they could all be described as equal parts meaningful and funny.

“Sims” was a one of a kind dude.

An old school philosopher that was seasoned in the lost art of needle dropping.

A teacher and mentor that would share unselfishly share his secrets with the next generation.

A friend who would indulge all your corny jokes.

A community staple who could be found supporting countless events throughout the city.

And a genuinely kind soul whose passion for music inspired so many of his peers.

He was so many things to so many people. The list above hardly begins to do him justice. So we decided to get together with our friends from Love Handle (Famous Lee and Alister Johnson) and play some records that reminded us of our friend. It was a way for us to heal and celebrate him at the same time.

Some of them are songs we’ve seen him rinse over and over.

Others had personal meaning. Or are songs we turned him onto.

He would call them “Sims joints” if was still with us.

So we’ll do the same.

Rest well, Masimba. Your spirit lives within us all.

–ARCEE

TRACK LIST

1. Heatwave – Star of a story

This one takes me back to my early days at Lola’s Lounge. Sims put me onto this around the time Da Beatminerz used it for Smif-N-Wessun’s “Let’s get it on” remix. My mind was blown before I even heard “Mind blowing decisions. – Dave Serious

2. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway – Back Together Again

This jam is one of those ones that would get him out of his seat and get a thunderous clap of approval, every time. Made me feel like I really did something right. – Alister

3. Mandrill – Mango Meat

Sims was a regular on my first college radio show “Dusty Fingers” which started back in 1995 on CHRY. This was the first song I ever played on the show. I remember Sims calling in immediately and singing along to the guitar and horn sequence that the Jungle Brothers had lifted, prompting me to do the same. Singing lyrics is one thing. But singing a straight sax solo to a friend over the phone because you love hip-hop that much is some super nerd shit. I loved that we were both nerds. – Arcee

4. Fela Kuti – Water no get enemy

Classic Masimba record. He’d always give us the signature thumbs up when we dropped this until he realized we were only playing it so we had 20 minutes to go out and smoke a joint. –Arcee

5. James Brown – Bring it up

How can one mention the everlasting funkiness of Son Of S.O.U.L without bringing on up The Soul Brother himself? This song reminds me of Sims for the simple fact that it’s the basis for 90’s rap classic, Gang Starr’s “Words I manifest”, and some ish I could easily see him rocking to. The second reason being THE NEEDLE DROP. I’ll explain. Sims wasn’t of one of those cats you’d bump into at a venue, dap up and keep it movin’.. For younger cats such as myself, Sims was a teacher. A humble provider of knowledge for generations to come with jewels and gems. One of these gems was the needle drop. Whenever I would talk with him on the phone during one of our marathon conversations (all his homies know what’s up with this one) he would ask “How are your needle drops coming along? “A couple years back, he put out this video on Facebook of him rocking the needle drop on this classic, and the way he freaked it was crazy. Made me study. Made me want to be better. – Kaewonder

6. Whatnauts – Help is on the way

Essential boogie. I’ve never seen this song not make people want to dance and have a good time. That’s what Sims was all about. – Kaewonder

7. Kinky Foxx – So different

Sims always let me know I had to play this track from the beginning. One time I mixed it in from 16 bars into the tune, I only did that once. Once. – Alister

8. First love – Party lights

One of my favourite pastimes with Sims was when the two of us