Camu Tao

Camu Tao, an underground rapper central to the Definitive Jux roster, was cut short by lung cancer in 2008 at the height of his career. Born Tero Smith in Columbus, OH, he emerged from the local MHz collective alongside producer Rjd2 and rapper Cage. He and Cage launched the Nighthawks, whose self-titled debut appeared in 2002 via the Def Jux subsidiary Eastern Conference. The following year Camu Tao teamed with rapper Metro under the name S.A. Smash to issue Smashy Trashy on Definitive Jux itself. In the ensuing period he contributed guest verses and production work to numerous Def Jux projects while also circulating several underground mixtapes. Lung cancer claimed his life on May 25, 2008, one month before his 31st birthday, as he completed work on his first solo album. That project, King of Hearts, surfaced posthumously in 2010.