Rap battle league event honours Pat Stay

Keeping Up: Stay Forever Canada’s battle rap community will come together to celebrate the legacy of Dartmouth’s Pat Stay.

Five months after his death, the battle rap community continues to honour Pat Stay’s memory.

Fellow rapper and close friend Quake Matthews says an upcoming King of the Dot event will also fundraise for his family.

Remembered as a world-renowned battle rapper with a larger-than-life personality, Matthews called his death “a tremendous loss.”

“First and foremost, [he was a] great friend, great father,” said Matthews. “And I think that’s how he would have preferred to be remembered, even from all his notoriety from battle rap.”

Stay’s death was a shock for the battle rap community, with popular rappers like Eminem and Drake expressing their condolences in videos to social media.

“From the big guys to even some of the up-and-coming artists… it just goes to show you the impact he had,” said Matthews.

Matthews says it was the King of the Dot battle rap week based out of Toronto where Stay really started making a name for himself.

“A lot of the prominent battlers from all across the world have donated their time – nobody is getting paid – they’re coming in to put it on for free,” said Matthews.

All of the proceeds from the event and pay-per-view, Matthews, added, will go to Stay’s family.

“Some of the best talent in the world are stepping up for Pat so it just shows the amount of respect his peers have for him,” said Matthews. “It’s comforting knowing there’s somebody watching over me now.”

King of the Dot’s “Stay Forever” is slated to take place Feb. 25 and 26.