On June 27, the legendaryDJ Polodied at 63.
Kool G Rap gave Rolling Stone his memories of his fallen friend.
I grew up in Corona, Queens, from five years old.
Kool G Rap (left) and DJ Polo in New York, 1992.Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Polo was a name that I heard.
As time went on, I started gaining a little neighborhood reputation as the young dude that could rap.
I started registering on his radar.
I just wanted to get in where I fit in.
Eric was like, No doubt, G. I got you.
And he linked me up with Polo.
Polo pulled up on me one day like, Yo, come on, cuz.
Were going to Marley Marl crib.
I jumped in his wheels, we went to Queensbridge and cut our first record.
I thought it was just a demo at that time, so its titled [Its a Demo].
Polo got me there.
He got me my introduction to the game.
Even though he loved DJing, he wasnt so focused on being the best in the world.
It wasnt his thing.
I didnt want to push something on Polo that he didnt want to focus on like that.
I looked up to him because he was that dude in the hood.
Even though he wasnt known to be the craziest DJ ever, he was still Polo.
Everybody knew that name.
And DJ Smalls was a prominent name back then.
So it wasnt like I had to look up to him all the time.
Polo was driving before me.
Theres certain things he was doing before me outside of music.
Polo [was] talking [about] things that I knew nothing of prior to that.
And it was just awesome to have that companionship coming from an older cat.
But he didnt treat me as if I was beneath him in maturity or wisdom.
He treated me like I was his equal.
Polo had a record before I even got with him.
But our union is what made everything take off for him as well.
But now we dealing with a totally different animal.
Its a Demo took us further.
And the follow-up single Rikers Island is taking us further.
Polo gave us our early image.
He used to wear the polo hat.
Our first promo pictures we ever took, it was his idea for us to rock the polo jackets.
I thought that shit was dope.
He wasnt following no trends or nothing like that outside of that polo shit.
And he wasnt a Polo shirt dude.
It was the actual jockey shit that he gravitated to.
It was the style of the horse rider [laughs].
Our dancers [were wearing] blazers and slacks and shoes, but they killin the dance moves.
Polo used to be like, Yo, look!
and have everybody in stitches [laughing at the dancers shoes].
He had a crazy sense of humor.
And outside of that, he was loved by a lot, because he was a real cool dude.
He was humble with everybody.
He never acted too fly for nobody.
And people loved him for that.
Three albums and seven years.
I felt I paid him back at that point.
Now hes a household name, his names known worldwide.
I just happened to grow career-wise, but he was always my man.
We did Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, upstate New York… Because that was my boy, man.
[In 2019], I was trying to call Polo for over a year.
[His phone was] going straight to voicemail every time I call.
Polo didnt DJ for me for [a few years] at this point.
Im like, All right.
Im going to try.
So I tried again, same thing, still go to voicemail.
Now, I had heard prior to this that Polo had got Parkinsons disease.
I start thinking, What the fuck?
The nigga blocked me or something?
I was so happy to tell him, Yo, they want us to go out on this tour.
I was going to do the tour more for him than for myself.
I was on the road in 2017 and 18, and that shit beat me down.
I was going to do it because I know Polo [wanted] to be back out there.
But I couldnt get in contact with him.
And then later on, all the Covid shit…
I started hearing that Polo was still in the hospital.
And I remember being shocked by that, like, Hes still in the fucking hospital?
Last year, we did the Cold Chillin [30-year] reunion at the Apollo Theater.
The first time Cold Chillin did that I wasnt there, because I was in the hospital.
And now Im there, but Polo aint there, 30 years later.
Im like, Aint this something?
My car ended up getting locked in the garage [afterwards].
And I was like, You know what?
Im stuck here, Im definitely going to see my man.
Im going to find out where he at, and Im going to see Polo.
I was like, Yo, niggas talking like Polos damn near dead.
Im like, Yo, my man is all right.
I was like, Well, let me know when you get home, and well come through.
I never got that call.
But Im still not thinking the worst.
And then I heard that he never came home out the hospital.
Polo, he was a true friend of mine.
He was a brother of mine.
It happened because of Polo.
And I know I speak for a lot of cats that got to know Polo, personally.
