Tim Dog: Dead or alive?
Posted by Miles Raymer on 05.23.13 at 04:12 PM

Back in February rap geeks around the world mourned the passing of Tim Dog, a Bronx-based MC who caused a stir back in 1991 when he released "Fuck Compton," an inflammatory single that helped set off the East Coast/West Coast feud that would eventually result in Biggie and Tupac's murders. It was also hard as hell, which is one of the reasons why it's managed to stay in the hearts of rap fans who found the beef to be otherwise tragic and meaningless.
News of Tim's death originated in a short item on the Source website by Shah Be Allah blaming it on a seizure caused by complications from diabetes. It also noted that the last time Tim had made the news was in 2012 when Dateline set up a sting operation that seemed to have caught him in the act of defrauding women he met through a dating site.

Today that Source post is gone (but still archived online), and there's an arrest warrant out for Tim Dog in Desoto County, Mississippi. It seems that the Source item was the closest thing to proof that he had actually died. No one's been able to find a death certificate for Tim Blair, the rapper's real name, and one of his closest friends, who turned down Tim's family's request that he speak at the funeral, doubts that in the end there was even a funeral at all.

If Tim Dog turned out to be alive it would be a major blow to the likely infinitesimally small number of 90s rap diehards who had their fingers crossed for a Hologram Tim Dog at the next Rock the Bells fest. But it would be fantastic news for the women he stole from, including Esther Pilgrim, whose apparent willingness to pursue Tim Dog to the grave and beyond in order to get back the $19,000 he stole from her is the primary reason why prosecutors are looking into his alleged death.

And it would obviously also be fantastic news for those of us who think that an epically shit-talking rapper faking his own death in order to escape the fallout from a massive fraud operation conducted via online dating is one of the most entertaining things to happen this year. If Tim Dog turns out to be alive he could probably pay off his victims by selling the film rights to his story to someone interested in turning it into a heist comedy. I would watch that movie in a heartbeat.

Andy Kaufman believers say he's alive in ABQ

Updated: Wednesday, 22 May 2013, 3:59 PM MDT Published : Wednesday, 22 May 2013, 6:47 AM MDT

Tina Jensen

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It's an urban legend that's been around for decades: Actor and comedian Andy Kaufman didn't actually die, he faked his death as the ultimate prank.

Now that urban legend has resurfaced, with a small group of fans believing he's alive and living in Albuquerque.

Kaufman was considered by some as less of a comedian and more of a performance artist who wanted to make the audience question reality.

Some say, if anyone could pull off faking his own cancer death 29 years ago it would be Andy Kaufman.

“I do find it fascinating and I think there's a very strong possibility that this could be for real,” said Edgewood-based writer Jack Bristow.

Bristow is part of a group of fans recently interviewed by the Huffington Post who explain in detail why some believe Kaufman has created a whole different life in the Land of Enchantment.

“He told people he was going to fake his death before it happened, years before,” Bristow said.

As the story goes, fans say Kaufman has a biological son, known as Stephen Maddox , who spent years trying to track down his father. Maddox dedicated a website to it and eventually tracked him down in Albuquerque two years ago.

“He was having surgery, supposedly, and he finally guilted him into seeing him once - that's how the story goes,” he said.

They say he created this cryptic video and posted it online after Kaufman apparently didn't want anything to do with him.

It shows a man walking through a parking lot full of cars with New Mexico license plates and walking by an Albuquerque-looking apartment complex.

But it's one particular clip that causes the most speculation, fans say Maddox says it show Kaufman at work in Albuquerque 2011.

“I don't know if it's him or not. But that one black and white one where it shows his face, it looks like it could possibly be him,” Bristow said.

It's not the first time the New Mexico theory has come

A few years ago, he was rumored to be living in Taos .

In 2005, someone claimed to have see Andy Kaufman panhandling near an Albuquerque Walmart, something Kaufman was known to do in his act.

Fans also say if there is someone living in Albuquerque who was formerly known as Andy Kaufman, there's no evidence he wants to be revealed.

If he were alive today, he’d be 64 years old.

For Kaufman believers, the legends and the questions continue.



http://www.krqe.com/dpp/features/andy-k ... lbuquerque