She had to pay her respect for another lost soul in a generation that's already hit hard by the deaths of Tupac Shakur, Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Aaliyah and now Jam Master Jay.

Pepa, of the rap duo Salt n' Pepa, said she and the other members of her group always idolized Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay. She said they created their own, girl version of the pioneers.

Erick Sermon, of EPMD, said his group's first gig was with the Run-DMC crew.

His partner back in the day, Parish Smith, said that first time out on tour, they didn't even have money for their own bus.

"Jam Master Jay and Run-DMC said, 'No problem.' They let us ride on their tour bus. They helped us work on our show and they basically took us under their wings.

As the rap world turned out in full force at the funeral, special police units videotaped the event in a search for leads on the spinner's slayer.

Cops are investigating a report that the Run-DMC spinner had sold a piece of music, which included a new rap he had written, to one artist when he had already promised it to someone else. Yeah, that would justify murder. How twisted, insular, and just plain sick does someone have to be for this to make sense? My biggest problem with the rap culture is that an awful lot of the people involved have no sense of the larger culture and think their little world has any meaning beyond entertainment. Here's a clue: no one really gives a shit, get over yourselves, graduate from the ghetto - don't drag it with you. I don't think Jay had this problem.

On a lighter note, here are my ten favorite Run-DMC songs:

10 "King of Rock"
9 "You Talk Too Much"
8 "Hard Times"
7 "Mary, Mary"
6 "Down With the King"
5 "Can You Rock It Like This"
4 "My Adidas"
3 "Walk This Way"
2 "You Be Illin'"
1 "It's Tricky"

UPDATE
Run-DMC to retire:

The two surviving members have announced that Run-D.M.C. has officially retired. The news came during a press conference to raise financial support for the family of slain Run-D.M.C. member Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday (November 6).
Groupmember Reverend Run told the crowd, "We were just on tour with Aerosmith and Kid Rock, and we can't perform anymore. Nobody wants to see Run and D.M.C. without Jay. Jay was definitely one-third of the group, and a lot of people I was seeing on television was wondering, 'Is Jay...was he a significant third of the group?' He was. We split this money three ways and we're not able to go back out in December with Kid Rock and Aerosmith now."

Run continued, "Run-D.M.C. is officially retired. I can't get out in front of my fans with a new DJ. Some rock bands can replace the drummer. People say that to me: 'Are you the original three members?' I say, 'I don't know any other way but to be the three original members,' and that's all I can say--is that we're retired. Does anybody have a job out there?"