By Chris Rockwell

I’m at Duce’s funeral; and sitting by my side was his younger cousin G Will, who I’ve known since he was about five years old. He was motionless, completely devastated and out of his mind…

We’re sitting in the front row with the rest of the stunned pall bearers after carrying Kevin’s coffin out to the front of the packed church. My mind was drifting in and out of reality as I settled on a hollow stare at the new tattoo on the back of Will’s hand in honor of Duce. Just two days before Duce was gunned down, we were hanging out at his place in Chico playing dominos, laughing and talking about the old days; like playing basketball in Southside; smashing fools on the football field; and going to the Run DMC / Beastie Boys concert at the Cal Expo Amphitheater in Sac.

(The original King Duce Crew – Keak Da Sneak, Lil Retro, Lace Leno, Yaberation and G Will)

Kevin and I were fifteen when I first told him about my crazy idea of starting a record label. I remember the day; it was a hot summer evening and we were trying to hang with Duce’s cool older brother Kelly down at the basketball courts in Southside. We were trying to earn our game stripes against the veteran pickup basketball teams, usually made up of older and rougher street cats and former high school and college standouts and drop outs. Typically we would get a quick elimination and return defeated to the sidelines and resume hanging out with the kids our age, sipping on Old English, and laughing at the comedic heckling coming from our young rag tag crew.

(Family Roots – Duce’s uncle “Big Marty”, Rockwell, and Duce’s cousin G Will on the “Darkside” in Sac)

On our last night together, every discussion somehow made its way back to the focal point of our life; our new record label. Just weeks earlier Duce had brought in his cousin G Will who was a promising young rapper out of Sac. G Will brought in Lace Leno and other young street tested rappers and arranged a meeting with me, Duce, Will and Oakland rap star Keak Da Sneak.

After a couple hang out sessions, Keak was down with our passion and agreed to sign a record deal with our yet to be named label. Everyone was hyped about the possibilities! I remember Kev smiling and rubbing his hands together like we had just discovered the secret formula, “It’s gonna be real big, Rock!”

Crack! I’m snapped back to reality with a flash of stage lights, screaming fans, a fat bass line, and G Will dropping into his song, “Giggin on the Dance Floor”. G Will was out on tour with Keak Da Sneak and was passing through Chico on his way to a show the next night in Portland. It was cool hanging out with Will before the show and catching up about what’s been happening and what’s next for King Duce. I love watching Will perform because he has the rare ability to command the stage and the fans. He has the “IT” factor as a performer. And, for me, it’s a special thing to watch because I know what we’ve been through together to get King Duce to this point. Mid way through the song he glanced over to the dark corner where I was sitting and flashed me a bright smile that said what I was thinking, “We did it…in the name of Duce!”

Duce Up!!