$hagg Da Great

Artie J. Brown, deceased at 37, also known as Shagg within the Denton, TX hip-hop scene, passed away when a truck he was in with a friend swerved and slammed into a tanker that was pulled over on the side of the road earlier this month. Shagg was a member of High Life Villianz, or HLV, a rap collective that formed in the early 90s in southeast Denton during a period of heightened gang activity in the neighborhood. HLV formed following a truce to end the violence that plagued this particular part of the city. Shagg was an original member and a pioneer in Denton’s hip-hop landscape.