L to R: Buckwheat Zydeco, Prince Buster, Phife Dawg, Jean Shepard, Don Buchla. Art: Roman Gokhman It’s safe to say that 2016 has been something of an all-around dumpster fire, especially when it comes to the sheer volume of iconic artists we’ve lost. The list of familiar and life-changing…

LL Cool J performs during the Kings of the Mic Tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif. on May 25, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. LL Cool J may be one of the elder statesmen of rap, rhyming since his 1985 platinum debut, but he has been out of the…