Memorializing Fool's Gold visionary Dust La Rock

Dust La Rock, born Joshua Prince, was 38 when he passed away of yet unnamed causes on February 2 in New York. Hipsters (of course with a capital H) would remember him as the creative visionary behind successful indie label Fool's Gold. Dust founded the label with A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs and moved on to work on solo projects in 2012.I memorialized Dust in an obituary on Insomniac.com today.  The last one I had to write was for rapper Eyedea when he passed in 2010, a doubly painful task as I spent time with him over the years.  These types of articles are obviously never fun to pen; you're always going to let someone down, least of all not the deceased themselves.  It's offensive to think we can summarize what someone meant to others in a few paragraphs, but we still try like fools.I called upon a few of Dust's friends, people I knew would trust me enough to give a quote or two. But it was really thinking  how prolific he was with that led me to remember wise words about the cyclical nature of art. From the obit:

It's often said that when art is made public, it no longer belongs to its creator. Whether it's a painting, a poem, a piece of music, or any of the infinite possibilities in between, there's a process of letting go. The work is done, it's out there, it's consumable. For perfectionists, this would incite a feeling of panic, but for those rare mad scientists who need to be in a constant cycle of creation, it's the most freeing feeling in the world. Looking at his breadth of work for A-Trak, Action Bronson, Kid Cudi and Danny Brown, among many others, it's obvious Dust La Rock was in the latter camp. Sadly, the letting go is now on our shoulders.

The first time I heard this notion of "giving your art up" was from a former editor who was giving advice about dealing with different perspectives on your craft: Once it's out there, it belongs to the world. Let people receive it and move on to the next project.  For the amount of work Dust did for artists like Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Duck Sauce, Chromeo, et al, he had most certainly gotten into a groove, and one many counted on and respected.I wish I had known Dust personally, he seemed to bring a lot of joy to many mutual acquaintances. Where ever he is, I hope it's beautiful.