Sean Cos Mason

WRITTEN BY: AMY LOTHIAN

The unfortunate truth is that African Americans are no strangers to injustice in America. Sadly, many black people who have fallen victim to a failing system were talented figures with dreams of making a name for themselves and representing their communities. One of these people was Deshon Johnson, a Newark/East Orange NJ native who was making waves as an artist and rapper. Born on March 5, 1990, Johnson’s life was cut short when he was struck by the driver of a USA Coach bus on Broad Street and Bay Avenue in Bloomfield, NJ on July 18, 2012. Since his passing, his mother Naomi has dedicated her life to not only keeping Deshon’s memory alive, but to highlight and fight the injustices of a warped system. Naomi shares memories of her son through sharing his music, his dreams as a young 22-year old and fighting the system that has yet to prosecute his killer.

Deshon was a family man, who loved his family and loved music and was quoted as saying he was pursuing music in hopes of taking care of his mother. He was raised in the church and sung in his Middle School chorus at Mount Hebron. Johnson was a gifted student both musically and academically and earned his position in the honor society from ninth grade until graduation. He was also on the wrestling team and avidly practiced martial arts throughout his life. After graduating from Montclair High School, Deshon went to Essex County College in West Caldwell NJ, and Kean University in Union New Jersey.

Johnson began writing and rapping under the alias Sean Cos Mason aka Sean M. during his freshman year of high school and quickly gained traction when he joined the Ice Grill Entertainment group with fellow rappers in Montclair. His introduction to sharing his talent with the world came when he debuted his first freestyle cover over the beat from the theme song from the then-popular TV show, The Game. Sean Cos Mason released his debut mixtape “Round My Way” on Sep 15, 2011, on Datpiff. His follow-up to that, Round My Way 2, was released on May 28, 2012, on Youtube. Sean was scheduled to do a sequel music video to “Hands On The Wheel” on July 19, 2012, and was in hopes of being signed to a record label according to his tweets posted just five hours before his death.

As he perfected his craft in the Scene, Sean Cos Mason continued to make music under his entertainment group called Noneillah including his third project titled Bodied, Wasted, which was released just two weeks before his tragic death. According to his mother, he planned to shoot a music video for his single the following week.

Within two weeks of the release of his project, Sean Cos Mason was killed on his way to work by a Coach USA bus driver. His posthumous debut studio album, Measure Up, including singles “FEEL SO GOOD”, “MY WORLD”, AND “GET IT, GOOD NIGHT” FT. KYZER debuted online and on overseas radio stations in Italy. He was also named a video star on videomusicstars.com twice following his death and recognized as a rising celebrity on Celebrities Galore.

The circumstances surrounding Sean Cos Mason’s death are both glaringly obvious and infuriating following the chain of events that were to follow. A lack of action on the part of the prosecutor’s office and the city of Bloomfield, in conjecture with a coverup by Coach USA and its failure to properly train its drivers, has led to over 9 years of injustice for a young man who lost his life in an avoidable and tragic manner. Sadly, to this day Johnson’s mother still fights alone for the injustice of her son’s death. All her attempts at seeking justice or Memoriam for Deshon have been ignored, defaced, or removed. She pleads with the local community to help keep Deshons memory alive, working alone and with her own disabilities, Naomi has made it her mission to make sure Deshon and Sean Cos Mason’s life was not in vain and that his legacy lives on.

Naomi announced that Sean Cos Mason’s debut studio album would be posthumously released on his birthday March 5, 2022. The album would be known as “My World” was originally set for release on June 19, 2020, but was pushed back in respect for the George Floyd protests, another display of America’s system of injustice. The album is full of an archive of unreleased music Sean was working on prior to his death and features it’s lead single, “ Break It Down”, featuring fellow rapper Melo Kan.

To help Naomi in her fight for the life of her son Deshon Johnson, familiarize yourself with his story, which is well publicized online, and consider donating to the Deshon Johnson College Scholarship Foundation, which Johnson had planned to create prior to his death, with the goal of helping and honoring college students in need with a scholarship. She also hopes to raise awareness for not only Deshon’s life but for the lives of so many who were killed by the recklessness of untrained and tempered bus drivers. She also wishes to raise the funds to create a documentary about Deshon’s life and legacy and all the noteworthy things he did while he was here. Naomi said it’s painful to know that the bus driver and others who assisted in covering up her son’s death can go home to their children, a privilege that was stolen from her on that fateful day. Johnson’s music is still available for streaming on YouTube and his album is set to be released next Spring.

REST IN POWER TO ALL WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES DUE TO INJUSTICES ACROSS THE WORLD.