He e-mailed me in December trying to get on at the Chicago Reader (the free weekly I crunch numbers for). Other than that I never talked to the brother but his photos, his presence on this board and his importance to The Roots early history makes his transition a heavy loss.

And the fact that Mpozi was only 34 years old and he died on a day when so many people are out celebrating with fam and enjoying life makes it even more painful.

Live life to the fullest, love hard and give your all to everything because when life is over...it's over.

RIP Mpozi.