Rudy Ray Moore, 1937 - 2008.

Rudy Ray Moore, the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Rap" who influenced generations of rappers and comedians with his rhyming style, braggadocio and profanity-laced routines, has died. He was 81.... "People think of black comedy and think of Eddie Murphy," rap artist Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew told the Miami Herald in 1997. "They don't realize [Moore] was the first, the biggest underground comedian of them all. I listened to him and patterned myself after him."... The heyday of his fame was in the 1970s, with the release of Dolemite followed by The Human Tornado, Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-in-Law and Money Hustler.

Jocelyn Y Stewart, Los Angeles Times.

The world is a lesser place without Rudy Ray Moore. His passing reminds us that we have a duty to push harder and crazier in these stagnant times, and to realize that the craziest artists may be unexpectedly entertaining people just as hard as they are provoking them.

Ed Champion.

Frankly, all modern minority comics, as Spike Lee once said, can kiss Rudy's rather ample rump - two times!... One trip through his original oeuvre (not counting movies where he made cameos, or worked in a less than superstar capacity) provides glimpses into a guy whose personality was all about fun and fuckin' - hopefully both at the same time. He only got medieval when the man — or some other manufactured version of the cancer known as the Caucasian - came down on him. Then the prerequisite pull top can of Me Decade whoop ass was opened up on anyone who didn't see eye to eye with this sub-genre Superfly.

Bill Gibron, PopMatters, 2005.

See also: the site and the Wikipedia entry.

Posted by dwhudson at October 21, 2008 7:15 AM