Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

No Joke

On July 7, 31-year-old Nick Pizana, aka Big Yikes, of South Bay hip-hop crew South Psycho Cide, passed away from cardiac arrest following a bout with pneumonia.

Pizana’s enjoyment of practical jokes had his bandmates and friends thinking the news was a put-on. “He was known for cracking jokes,” said the band’s Charles Quimiro. “And he died during all the Michael Jackson memorial stuff.… Not one of us thought it was serious when we first got the news. No one would believe it. They thought he’d jump out of the back room and laugh.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

South Psycho Cide was formed in 2000 by Sweetwater High School students Charles Quimiro (aka CooKoo) and Julius Macalanda (aka Sir Booz). In 2003, Macalanda’s younger brother Joe and Pizana joined the group.

The quartet has been nominated for five San Diego Music Awards: three times for Best Hip-Hop Group (2003, 2006, 2008) and twice for Best Hip-Hop Album (2002’s Back to da Street and 2005’s Welcome to Reality).

Pizana’s death leaves a number of South Psycho Cide projects in limbo, including their upcoming third album, Tha Repedemic. “We stopped playing in April so we could finish our new CD and were about to start playing live again when this happened. Everything will come together again, eventually, but for now, we’re just recovering from [Big Yikes’s] passing.”

Quimiro was working with Pizana on a solo Big Yikes project that was near completion. According to Quimiro, there was only one track left to finish on the untitled disc, but Pizana left a book with more than 400 songs in it for future projects. “Music was all he wanted to do, so he was constantly writing. He would joke around about it being important to consider your legacy because anything could happen at any time.”

While Quimiro plans to finish the recordings, he has been reluctant to reenter his home studio since the news of Pizana’s death reached him. “It was the last place I saw him,” he said.

A memorial show with proceeds going to Pizana’s mother is planned for later this summer.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance

On July 7, 31-year-old Nick Pizana, aka Big Yikes, of South Bay hip-hop crew South Psycho Cide, passed away from cardiac arrest following a bout with pneumonia.

Pizana’s enjoyment of practical jokes had his bandmates and friends thinking the news was a put-on. “He was known for cracking jokes,” said the band’s Charles Quimiro. “And he died during all the Michael Jackson memorial stuff.… Not one of us thought it was serious when we first got the news. No one would believe it. They thought he’d jump out of the back room and laugh.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

South Psycho Cide was formed in 2000 by Sweetwater High School students Charles Quimiro (aka CooKoo) and Julius Macalanda (aka Sir Booz). In 2003, Macalanda’s younger brother Joe and Pizana joined the group.

The quartet has been nominated for five San Diego Music Awards: three times for Best Hip-Hop Group (2003, 2006, 2008) and twice for Best Hip-Hop Album (2002’s Back to da Street and 2005’s Welcome to Reality).

Pizana’s death leaves a number of South Psycho Cide projects in limbo, including their upcoming third album, Tha Repedemic. “We stopped playing in April so we could finish our new CD and were about to start playing live again when this happened. Everything will come together again, eventually, but for now, we’re just recovering from [Big Yikes’s] passing.”

Quimiro was working with Pizana on a solo Big Yikes project that was near completion. According to Quimiro, there was only one track left to finish on the untitled disc, but Pizana left a book with more than 400 songs in it for future projects. “Music was all he wanted to do, so he was constantly writing. He would joke around about it being important to consider your legacy because anything could happen at any time.”

While Quimiro plans to finish the recordings, he has been reluctant to reenter his home studio since the news of Pizana’s death reached him. “It was the last place I saw him,” he said.

A memorial show with proceeds going to Pizana’s mother is planned for later this summer.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.