Rapper and member of 2 Live Crew Mark D. Ross, aka Brother Marquis, has died at the age of 58, encouraging collaborators and fans to pay tribute.
Respecting something means understanding its history, and for many lovers of hip-hop the world over, its storied past remains eternally fascinating and undeniably important. Some of the game-changers of the genre spawned quite the controversy, and among those stood the American group 2 Live Crew. The explicit nature of their music‘s lyrics landed them in simmering hot water when they made a splash in the late 1980s, continuing to attract backlash into the ‘90s. Nevertheless, they’re recognized as an important collective in the complex history of hip-hop. Sadly, their fans are mourning one of its key members, Brother Marquis.
2 Live Crew ‘legend’ Brother Marquis has died at 58
Breaking the hearts of Brother Marquis’s family, friends, and fans, 2 Live Crew announced that he passed away at 58 on Monday, June 3rd 2024.
“Mark Ross AKA Brother Marquis of the 2 Live Crew has passed away,’ the social media post reads, accompanied by a photo of the rapper in memoriam. The cause of death is yet to be officially confirmed.
Making a stir in the musical landscape of the late ‘80s, 2 Live Crew unveiled their debut album Is What We Are in 1986. Featuring the song We Want Some P***y, among others to include sexually explicit lyrics, the group drew criticism.
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All the same, they proved popular among hip-hop fans, helping push the album to no. 24 on the Billboard Top R&B/hip-hop albums, becoming gold-certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Their third LP, 1989’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be, proved even more controversial than anything they’d recorded previously. It was so controversial, in fact, that federal district judge Jose Gonzalez banned it on the grounds it was too obscene for the public.
However, this was later overturned and the group ultimately capitalized on their infamy with the release of their next record: 1990’s Banned In The USA, marking the introduction of the parental advisory sticker that became such a powerful and integral part of the genre’s iconography.
Despite disbanding in that decade, Brother Marquis would continue to make music as a duo with DJ Toomp called 2 Nazty, and he even reformed 2 Live Crew in 2006 with original member Wong Won, aka Fresh Kid Ice.
Tributes pay respect to ‘one of the dopest rappers’ there was
Former 2 Live Crew member Uncle Luke was quick to pen a tribute to his dear friend and collaborator.
“We took on so many fights for the culture,” he tweeted about the celebrity. “Made great music together, something I would never forget. We had recently got back together to take on another fight to get back our catalog that was stolen from us. We will continue that fight in his name for his Family.”
On an inspirational note, he added: “The Brother Marquis that I know would want us to celebrate his life… that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”
Sharing a fond memory complete with a laughing emoji, a fan recounted: “I fell asleep once and left my new stereo with a CD player, playing 2 Live Crew all night. I woke up in the morning and my parent had cracked my CD in half.”
Tony Centeno, hip-hop editor for iHeartRadio, regarded him as “A true legend from coast to coast. My condolences go out to his family, friends, [Uncle Luke and Mr. Mixx].”
DJ Spydermann called Brother Marquis “One of the dopest rappers to ever do it. He shined on other people’s projects when he got a chance to just straight-up drop bars outside of the usual 2 Live Crew style lyrics…”
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