It is 11:45 p.m. on Aug. 16, and Skully’s is stuffed full of people. DJ Drastic is spinning records on stage, and the crowd is eating it up. They aren’t here for the club atmosphere, however.
Midnight brings Tuesday, and Tuesday brings the release of “King of Hearts,” the debut solo album from respected Columbus hip-hop artist Tero “Camu Tao” Smith.
The crowd is here to celebrate the record’s release party and hear it played publicly for the first time.
Sadly, Smith will not be here to join them.
“Death, Where have you been all my life?” – ‘Death’
Smith passed away on May 28, 2008, at the age of 30, after a two-year battle with lung cancer, cutting short the life of one of the most promising talents in Columbus, if not all of hip-hop.
Smith was involved in many projects before he decided to go his own way.
He was a member of the duo S.A. Smash with rapper Metro and the Columbus “super group” Mhz with other area hip-hop figureheads Copywrite, Tage Proto, Jakki the MotaMouth and RJD2.
Smith’s fiancée, Gayle Gutter, said Smith strongly identified with Columbus.
“He was a huge Buckeye fan. It was his home,” she said. “It’s so funny, that was really the first thing I remembered about him.”
Smith could deliver from the microphone but he was respected highly for his ability making beats and producing. Gutter said that his talent as a producer was hard to match.
“Insanely amazing at production work. He was also very talented at writing. It was very easy for him to do,” she said. “He was very good at making different beats, he’d just whip it up in five to 10 minutes.”
“You can be a lame MC, if you stay the same degree.” – ‘Plot a Little’
S.A. Smash worked under the Definitive Jux record label, a New York City-based group turning out hip-hop generally too eccentric for mainstream radio play and often noted for its impressive and sometimes curious beats. Smith found a fan in label-mate Jaime “El-P” Meline, another well-known producer. Smith joined Meline along with other label members Aesop Rock and Cage in the underground group The Weathermen.
All the while Smith sat on the idea of starting a solo project. He had contributed solo tracks to compilations in the past, but Gutter said he was waiting for the right time to do a whole album.
“He always wanted to do a solo project,” she said. “He just wanted to wait until he was ready. Until he was comfortable.”
Smith might not have been ready when he received his diagnosis in 2006, but he ran with it. He completed most of the recording for the album at the studio in the couple’s home, but when he passed away in 2008, there was still a healthy amount of production work to be done before the album would be finished.
Gutter said that Meline gathered up all of Smith’s recordings with the intention of completing the record.
“Jaime said he would do everything in his power to make it as much like Tero would want it,” she said. “I trusted him.”
Meline worked in between his other projects and two years later, “King of Hearts” was finished at last.
“It’s the end of the world girl, so let’s have fun.” -‘Ind of the Worl’
On August 16, fans were ready to pay tribute to the King of Hearts himself. They wandered around the bar wearing “I (heart) CAMU” T-shirts, having made a donation to the James Cancer Hospital at the door. The donation would be the last unhappy memory of the night.
Meline and Metro said a few words in memory before playing the album, but the mood was clearly a celebratory one.
“I hope you all get drunk. I hope you all have fun,” Meline said from the stage. “That’s how Camu would have wanted it.”
The album features plenty of dark content within its lyrics, but the beats won’t let the listener contemplate them for too long. Tracks like “Bird Flu,” “Ind of the Worl” and “Major Team” are among the catchiest tracks on an album full of catchy tracks. The attendees answered the music’s call to dance.
Third-year strategic communications major and hip-hop connoisseur, Jared Young, said that Smith was a huge part of Columbus’ current reputation within the genre.
“Him and (deceased Camu Tao collaborator) DJ Przm created a sound that is so revolutionary and unique,” he said. “It has brought international attention to our city.”
Young felt the revolutionary style was alive and well in “King of Hearts.”
“It’s 150 percent unique and 200 percent Camu,” he said.
Gutter said before the release party she had heard the final product and was pleased with it.
“Jaime did a great job cleaning it up and putting the songs in order,” she said. “I’m happy with it.”
There is one heartbreaking moment during the hook for the song “Death” when Smith sings “Death, where have you been all my life?”
However, Gutter doesn’t think that death was meant to be the idea behind the album.
“I wouldn’t say it was death-themed, but there was so much energy,” she said. “Like he knew it was his last chance to do something.”
Gutter wasn’t sure if there was any one theme and she also wasn’t sure about the inspiration for the album’s title.
“Personally, I don’t really know how he came up with it,” she said with a smile. “It sounds cheesy, but he had such a big heart. He was always doing stuff to bring people together.”
