Miami rap veteran and car connoisseur Vido No Shake of Piccalo fame dead at 48
One of the first calls that James Gibson made after buying his new house was to Vido No Shake.
As Gibson shared the good news with his longtime friend, Vido cut in.
“The first thing he says is, ‘Shoot, if you need painting, just call me!’” Gibson, better known as Buckski Banutski, recalled with a chuckle. “I was like ‘No man, the house is already painted.’ Then he said ‘What you need? You need new furniture? You need a handyman? Whatever you need I got you.’”
That interaction, according to friends and family of Vido, was nothing special; the Overtown native had a giving heart. So as Gibson reflected on the life of the Miami veteran rapper, car connoisseur and “octopus hustler,” who died Jan. 9 at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital after suffering a stroke at the age of 48, he couldn’t help but see a void created by his friend’s passing.
“He meant a lot to the community,” said Gibson, who also worked as Vido’s manager. “A lot of people are going to suffer because of his passing, I’m sorry to say, because if you needed something, it wasn’t nothing for you to call him.”
Born Tavares Batten on April 12, 1975 to Patricia Ann Walker and Willie Batten, Vido was the eldest of his parents’ two children. Vido attended Norland High School yet could always be found in Overtown, a place very instrumental to his musical upbringing.
At the age of 15, Vido would meet someone who would become a friend and frequent collaborator over the course of his career: Corellius Johnson, known the world over as Desloc. It would take some time for the two to begin to work together – Vido belonged to a group called Cellmates while Desloc was a member of the Clique – yet by the late ‘90s, the duo had finally formed.
“There was just one beat that I liked and he liked and nobody else liked it,” Desloc recalled. “Me and Vido got on the song, we funked it and just kept rapping together.”
Then and there, Piccalo was born.
“We were just some young cats trying to rep they hood, rep Miami,” Desloc said, adding that Piccalo was an acronym that meant “professional, intelligent, cash, collected, advance, lyrical, oh my god.”
The duo would drop their debut album “Everyday Reality” in 2000, a 22-song project that beguiled fans with vivid street tales and featured their two biggest singles “Big Money Ballers” and “T-Shirt.” Desloc can still remember the first time that they heard “Big Money Ballers” on a pirate radio station.
“We were riding in the car on the highway and our s*** came on,” Desloc said, singing the hook of the lead single, before quipping: “We almost crashed out.”
The group’s music, combined with their look of gold teeth and thick dreadlocks, would soon become synonymous with Miami style and inspire future generations of rappers including Vido’s own cousin, YD.
“Piccalo was the first group that inspired me to do this,” said fellow Overtown native YD. “They had an image that was relatable to me. I could understand their stories because I lived in the area that their stories were about. Their music was my reality. ”
As Piccalo’s stature grew, so did their growing list of collaborators. By far their biggest feature came in 2004 when Pitbull tapped them for “Dammit Man,” one of the lead singles from his debut album “M.I.A.M.I.”
“He was very influential to Pitbull’s career because before Pitbull even got famous, he helped him with his first hit single,” Gibson said. “Any big hip-hop artist – Pitbull, Rick Ross, Yo Gotti, Juvenile – when they were in Miami, they came to see Vido because of how Vido treated them, how much love he showed him.”
Car culture
Nowhere is that more evident than the first time Daniel Perez, the co-founder of East Coast Ryders, a website turned DVD series that showcased Miami car culture, met Vido.
“I got introduced to Vido in the early 2000s when he was pushing Pitbull, not even himself,” recalled Perez, who helped start East Coast Ryders alongside Lance Ponting.
And while Vido would go to host the DVD series that exposed the world to “donks”, Miami slang for the low-riders with the large rims, that first interaction is forever etched in Perez’s memory.
“He was a friend to the city; anybody could ask him for advice,” Perez said. “He made me feel like a terrible friend how there he was for everybody.”
Perez got to see this firsthand as the success of the East Coast Ryders DVDs grew. Eventually, Perez and Vido began to fly across the country to different car shows for nearly a decade as the latter’s stature grew.
“Miami created the culture and Vido was the face of the culture,” Perez said. “He brought it to the world. He was a celebrity out of town.”
By the late 2000s, Piccalo was on pause. Desloc decided to go solo and Vido, who had started his own label 4 Life Entertainment in 2005, would form another group, the Codefendants. YD signed to 4 Life soon after, a moment he’s still forever grateful for.
“As long as I can remember, Vido has been my musical guardian angel,” said YD, who used to be Vido’s hype man and promoter before becoming an artist.
Vido’s label was only one of his many businesses that earned him the name “octopus hustler.” He had a food truck called “Soooul Good Kitchen.” A recording studio. A photo studio. A T-shirt printing company. An auto body shop. Odds are if you needed something, Vido was the man to call.
“He used the things he had access to to help others without putting his face out there,” YD said.
That lesson, more than anything else, will be what Kenwaun Batten remembers for the rest of his life.
“He taught me how to give back to others,” said Kenwaun, one of Vido’s sons. “He taught me to be there for people even if they’re not there for you.”
Vido is survived by his children Armani, Tavares Jr., Kenwaun, Noriya, Vartrell, Atreyu, Zii, Javares and Vashondra; his father Willie Batten; his siblings; Shakima Batten, Robert Gaddy, Charleston Lesane, Deltravious Batten, Travis Batten, Keisha Lesane (Alrich), Tiffany Scott, Chakita Dixon, and Brittany Boston; his grandson Darris Williams and a plethora of aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins.
