November 26, 2010. Biz graciously brought my family backstage at the Staples center to meet the cast of Yo Gabba Gabba and after party. At the time, there were no bigger stars in the world to them, and of course to me there was no one bigger than Biz. A rare occasion when your 3 year old kids have the same hero as you. Not sure what more I can say that hasn’t been said about Biz in his passing, but I think it’s important to note he was a rare legend who took time to reach out to new generations of artists, accept them, treat them as peers and let them know he was supportive of their movement, however big or small. It takes an enormous and humble soul to do so, and you’d be hard pressed to find other HipHop legends willing to do so with such humility. Sometimes when he would call I would let it go to my answering machine on purpose, and he would beatbox PUTS songs as the message, I would pick the phone up in the last minute like “YO I’m here I’m here”. I’m not sure what I did to deserve even a minute of attention from literally the greatest to ever do it, but the conversations we had, calling Mike on three way and talking for hours about hip hop - I will remember forever. The joy he brought my kids with every Biz’s Beat of The Day on Yo Gabba Gabba was priceless. The feeling I got hearing him beatbox SF Knights on my answering machine convinced me - the perpetual outsider - that I actually had a purpose in Hip Hop. That I belonged. His energy was that strong. Forever Grateful. And from now till the end of time... Nobody Beats The Biz. 📸 @cutchemist