Baltimore Club Forerunner Dukeyman Has Died

Dukeyman has passed away, possibly after suffering a stroke.

Baltimore DJ, producer, and sound engineer Dukeyman — an artist closely associated with the origin of the Baltimore club style of music — has died.

No cause of death has been disclosed for Dukeyman (real name Ronald Hall) at the time of writing. On Facebook, a friend named Lawrence Simpson posted an apparent screen shot of their final conversation in which Hall said that he had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.

Wayne Smith broke the news of Hall’s passing on Saturday, writing, “This morning I got a call that I didn’t want.” Smith’s tribute went into depth on the role Hall played in his life as creative mentor after Smith had returned home from incarceration.

“I would go over his house and learn things in music, production, designing videos, editing music, making my own path for promoting and everything,” Smith wrote. “Being around a person that can create something for nothing is what I needed.”

Baltimore club emerged in the early ’90s thanks to Hall as well as artists like DJ Technics and Rod Lee, fusing elements of breakbeat, Chicago house, and hip-hop. Having started his music career in 1987, Hall delivered several definitive tracks of the style, notably “Hush Dat Fuss,” “Best Friend,” “Shorty U Phat,” and “Gimme Some Mo,” the latter of which sampled Busta Rhymes.

Hall released music all the way up until his passing, the most recent of which was a January remix of “Let’s Go” featuring Say Wut by DJ Lucky. Recent years also saw him release EPs like Something New 2020, What Day Is It, and the collaborative In The Lab EP alongside DJ Quest.

“Thank you friend, brother and teacher for the support,” closed out Smith’s post. “I appreciate and I love you brother for the talks about life and music. I will see you in Heaven.”