Ka emerged in the underground New York rap scene in 1993 as part of hip-hop group Natural Elements before forming his own duo, Nightbreed, with his friend Kev.

In 1999, 27-year-old Ka joined the New York City Fire Department and shelved his music career, rising in the ranks, being a first responder during the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and eventually becoming captain. He connected with Wu-Tang Clan member GZA and picked up a microphone almost a decade later in 2008 to be reintroduced on their collaborative track “Firehouse” off the producer/rapper’s Pro Tools. Ka would then go on to release his solo debut, Iron Works, the same year.

The emcee built a loyal fanbase in New York’s underground hip-hop community and self-produced and self-funded his music for most of his career, operating out of his home. He maintained his firefighting career and his privacy, alluding to his day job in a 2015 interview with Passion of the Weiss, saying, “I’m living two lives, man. I’m trying to be who I am in the day and then trying to feed my soul at night with being the artist that I want to be.”

On Aug. 21, 2013, over a week after Ka’s Honor Killed the Samurai was released to critical acclaim, The New York Post published an expose on the rapper’s true identity as a firefighter. With that knowledge made public, Ka continued to work for the fire department up until his death. He also released his final album, The Thief Next to Jesus, in August, only two months before his death.

The Alchemist, a seminal New York hip-hop producer, paid tribute to Ka on X, writing, “I always called him a living PROPHET because thats what he was to us. Me and Roc [Marciano] always said when KA rapped it was like he was delivering his words from the top of a mountain off a stone tablet. The truest man and artist I have ever been lucky enough to cross paths with.”

Ka is survived by his wife, film producer Mimi Valdes, his mother, and his sister.

“My king, my hero, my best friend. You will always be my everything because love like ours lasts forever,” Valdes wrote in an Instagram post confirming Ka’s death. “Rest my beautiful husband, see you on the other side,”