Remembering Black The Ripper

Dean West was best known as Black The Ripper, a British rapper, grime MC, activist, cannabis activist, and entrepreneur from Edmonton, London.

West started his music career in 2003 at the age of fifteen. Constantly participating in grime battles on pirate radio stations, alongside the likes of Rowdy Squad and X Camp. During an MTV interview, he stated that he was inspired by the likes of Biggie Smalls, Bob Marley, and Nas to make his own music, showing his love for music throughout the interview. His music was also inspired by historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. 2007 saw the release of his debut mixtape "Motivation Music: Volume 1", alongside "Summer Madness" in February, and "Motivation Music: Volume 2" in March 2007.

Black The Ripper was one of the earlier artists to record on SBTV, releasing freestyles and music sessions, being up there with ASB, Chip, and Ghetts, to name a few. Following these freestyles, the artist released a compilation album at the end of 2009, titled "The Edmonton Dream", containing sixty different tracks full of features from a range of grime figures. The artist then featured on an SBTV All-Stars remix, alongside Lady Leshurr, Mic Righteous, and Shotty in January 2011. 2011 also saw a huge London riot, in which West spoke out and stated he didn't support what was going on, letting everyone know his thoughts on the people commenting on the riots. He released his sixth mixtape in March 2011, titled "Outlaw: Volume 1" and "Black is Beautiful: Volume 1", an album that was supposed to be released back in 2005 but was dropped on the same day. The following year in 2012, the MC released three more mixtapes: "Married to Marijuana" a body of work dedicated to his love for smoking marijuana, "Unreleased S**t: Volume 3" another compilation mixtape, and "Black Is Beautiful: Volume 2", making this his tenth mixtape.

The eleventh mixtape, "High-End Weed Music" was a piece of work joint with Iron Barz in 2014, making it his second mixtape dedicated to cannabis. In August 2014, the artist released volume two of "Outlaw", with another edition of "High End" also being released at the end of 2014 in December. His debut EP "Excuse Me Whilst I Kiss Sky" was released in 2015, gaining national love as he released a Trollstation YouTube video containing a viral stunt as he and some friends filmed each other smoking and dancing inside the London Eye. West then released yet another EP as a 4/20 special titled "In Dank We Trust", another independently released album. Later that year, another EP "Doe or Die: Volume 1" was released and sold at the cheap price of £4.20, living up to his cannabis culture personality.

In 2015, Dank of England (D.O.E) was launched as an independent record label with its own clothing brand and smoking accessories range. West went into this business with his friend Screechtree, the duo had run pop-up shops annually. The Irish News had described the brand as "the most pro-cannabis and British a company can get" as Black The Ripper had featured on "How Weed Laws Are Failing the UK", a documentary by VICE as this is what West did best, crediting his smoking habits for his businesses successes.

On April 6th, 2020, thirty-two-year-old West passed away while on holiday in Montserrat in their holiday home. Two months later his family confirmed that the death was due to a heart attack, with his funeral taking place in September. The rap scene and his close friends took to Instagram to leave comments on Black The Rippers' latest post as the comments section was flooded with rest in peace comments and people telling everyone what a lovely guy he was, sharing their memories. Still to this day, people are commenting, wishing him a happy birthday when it gets to December 28th as well as showing their respect on April 20th.

Following his passing, rappers like Chip took it upon themselves to release tribute tracks for the MC, Chip's being titled "0420 (R.I.P Black The Ripper)" with all of the proceeds made going to West's family. The comments are filled with so many loving comments towards Chip in this hard time as he loses one of his best friends. For example, "That wasn't chip spitting fam, that was Jamaal Fyffe. You can tell that was friendship and not clout chasing. Been waiting for this one right here. Great tribute. Talent and love. Rip Black", "The scene needed this!! RIP Black The Ripper", and "DOE FOREVER".

Rest In Peace Dean 'Black The Ripper' West.