Today NBC Chicago reported that an autopsy on DJ Rashad, who passed away on April 26th in Chicago, reveals that the pioneering footwork producer died of a drug overdose. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said tests show Rashad died of cocaine, heroin and alprazolam (Xanax) intoxication. His death has been ruled as an accident.
Back in May, his label Hyperdub told The Guardian that the artist, whose full name is Rashad Harden, “died as a result of complications arising from a blood clot in his leg.” “Rashad was a kind soul that left an indelible mark on the music world as the torchbearer of Footwork and Juke,” his manager, Wes Harden, said then. “Rest assured that all of those close to him will make sure that the legacy lives on for a great man whose life has been cut far too short.” The FADER's own Ruth Saxelby, who had met the DJ numerous times in the past, once asked him why his footwork music was so melancholy. “Ah well," he said, "most of the times in those samples it’s pretty much how I felt.”
