It was a sad day in hip hop as the culture lost another one of its pioneers, Sugarhill Gang's Big Bank Hank, who lost his battle to cancer early Tuesday (Nov. 11) morning, at the age of 57.

With the news still fresh, Yonkers trio the Lox spoke exclusively to BET about the legacy of Hank, born Henry Jackson, who was revered in hip hop as one of the genre's most well known gentle giants.
“If you’re any kind of hip hop fan and you love rap music, you already know that sky blue album with the colorful train on it [Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight]," Jadakiss noted. “I think I got that for my fifth or sixth birthday. I remember walking around with the big record. The album. I was the only little dude with the album. Then I just remember seeing it. You go over to your man’s house, or you go all over. A lot of people always had that one album.”

Sheek Louch then revealed why the death of Hank was especially near and dear to his heart. “My mom is fighting that, you know what I mean? So it’s like, I can’t stand it, seeing how it brings you down,” he said.

The Lox happened to release their latest mixtape, The Trinity: 3rd Sermon, the same day that Hank passed. Auspiciously, the tape is led by the single “No Selfies,” which samples “Rapper’s Delight.” The DJ Uneek-produced track premiered on Hot 97 via Funkmaster Flex in September.
Check the video below to see the Lox reminisce on Big Bank Hank.

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(Photos from left: Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images for BET, Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage)