Los Angeles Times

Kaseem ‘Ka’ Ryan, New York City rapper-producer and firefighter, dies at 52

Ka, the New York City rapper and producer who also served as a captain in the New York City Fire Department, has died. He was 52. The artist, born Kaseem Ryan, died Saturday in New York City, his ...
The New York Times

Ka, Lone Soldier of New York’s Underground Rap Scene, Dies at 52

The rapper, whose birth name was Kaseem Ryan, self-produced 11 albums while also maintaining a career with the New York Fire Department. By Johnny Diaz Kaseem Ryan, who built a small but fervent ...
The New York Times

Ka Made Rap on His Own Terms. Hear How in 7 Songs.

Remembering the hip-hop artist (and New York City firefighter), who died over the weekend at 52. By Jon Caramanica One of the great joys of being a pop music critic is being able to ingest an artist’s ...
The Washington Post

He was a fireman, a part-time artist and one of New York’s greatest rappers

It is always nighttime in the music of the rapper and producer Ka. His songs are set in the wee hours, on dark avenues where bullets fly and on abandoned piers where triggermen dispose of murder ...
Rolling Stone

Ka Was the Visionary Soul of Underground New York Hip-Hop

Like many of his peers in this milieu, Ka was once an also-ran in the hypercompetitive rap industry. He came of age in the Eighties crack era, as he told Red Bull Music Academy in 2016: “Put like this ...
The Forward on MSN

Maria Ka’s cosmic Yiddish music — from punk grit to starlight

When Polish-born musician Maria Ka released her latest album Di Mashin (The Machine), she wasn’t merely reviving Yiddish song ...