Reginald Joseph Ossé (July 8, 1969 – December 20, 2017), known professionally as Combat Jack, was a Haitian-American

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

attorney,

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, journalist, editor and podcaster. He was the former

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

of ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

''. He was the host of the podcast ''The Combat Jack Show'' and founding partner of the Loud Speakers Network. He was also the host of the Complex TV show version of ''The Combat Jack Show'' podcast.

Career

A first-generation

Haitian-American Haitian Americans (; ; ) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest population of Haitian citizens in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area. In addition, they have sizeable popu ...

, Ossé was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York on July 8, 1969, and graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. There at the university, he became a member of Kappa Xi chapter of

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1914. The fraternity's founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, wanted to ...

fraternity. He later received his law degree from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

. He represented hip-hop producers and entertainers, such as

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, Damon Dash, Roc-a-fella Records, DJ Clark Kent,

Nice & Smooth Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1965). The duo released four albums between 1989 and 1997. Their firs ...

Capone-N-Noreaga Capone-N-Noreaga (also known as C-N-N) is an American hip hop duo formed in 1995 from Queens, New York. The duo features East Coast rappers Capone and N.O.R.E. History In October 1995, Capone-N-Noreaga appeared in '' The Source'' magazine's ...

, Deric "D. Dot" Angelettie,

Ski Beatz David Anthony Willis, known professionally as Ski Beatz, is an American record producer from Greensboro, North Carolina, mainly working in hip hop. Biography Discovered by DJ Clark Kent, Ski was originally known as "MC Will-Ski" in the late 1 ...

, and others, starting from an internship in legal affairs for

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

in 1989. After 12 years of practicing law in the music industry, he retired and wrote ''Bling'', a book documenting hip-hop's history and fascination with jewelry. He also served as the Vice President of Audio/Music DVD at

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...

and later managing editor of ''The Source''. Then with

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC was a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's ...

, a podcast network, he hosted a show called ''Mogul'' about the life and death of hip hop executive

Chris Lighty Darrel Steven "Chris" Lighty (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012) was an American music manager and record producer. He co-founded Violator, a record label, management and marketing company, which represented hip hop and R&B artists such as Busta ...

''The Combat Jack Show''

Ossé chose the name ''Combat Jack'' from the book ''Generation Kill'', initially using it as a pseudonym for commenting on Missouri-based blogger Byron Crawford's site. In August 2010, he launched a podcast by the same name, first aired on PNC Radio. The internet radio show was dedicated to hip hop discussions and interviews. ''Combat Jack''s co-hosts include Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, DJ Benhameen, AKing and

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

. In 2013, ''The Combat Jack Show'' became the flagship of a network of podcasts founded by Ossé known as the Loud Speakers Network, which also includes ''

The Read ''The Read'' is a weekly pop culture podcast. One of several podcasts affiliated with the Loud Speakers Network, ''The Read'' is hosted by American comedians Kid Fury and Crissle West and based in New York City. History Prior to starting ''Th ...

'', hosted by Kid Fury and Crissle, '' The Brilliant Idiots'', and ''FanBros'', hosted by DJ Benhameen. Over his life, Ossé also

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ged for ''XXL'' magazine, as well as his own website.

Death

Combat Jack died at a hospital from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in Brooklyn on the morning of December 20, 2017, two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with the cancer.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Osse's Blog, Daily Mathematics

''The Combat Jack Show''
1969 births 2017 deaths Hip-hop record producers Cornell University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni American music podcasters American writers about music American people of Haitian descent People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Deaths from colorectal cancer in New York (state) 20th-century American lawyers Managing editors