Prince Markie Dee, a member of pioneering hip-hop group Fat Boys, died on Thursday, confirmed the group’s manager, Louis Gregory. He was 52 years old. No cause of death has been disclosed.
“Forever in my heart. Prince Markie Dee was more than a rapper; he was one of my best and closest friends,” Gregory wrote on Twitter. “My heart breaks today because I lost a brother. I will always love you, Mark, and I will cherish everything you taught me. Tomorrow is your birthday, rock my way bro. “
Born Mark Anthony Morales on February 19, 1968, he joined Darren Robinson (the Human Beatbox) and Damon Wimbley (Kool Rock Ski) and performed under the name The Disco 3 before becoming Fat Boys. The group launched their career in 1983, when they won a talent contest at Radio City Music Hall and, at the end of the decade, they became one of the main ambassadors of rap pop culture with the simultaneous release of their fourth platinum album. Crushing and his revolutionary comedy film Disorders in the summer of 1987. The trio popularized beatboxing and their silly sense of humor and affable attitudes made them essential to bringing rap music into the mainstream.
His first two albums – the eponymous debut of 1984 and the 1985 The fat boys are back – were produced by rap legend Kurtis Blow and included hits like “Can You Feel It?”, “Jail House Rap” and “The Fat Boys Are Back”.
“I was walking and suddenly I heard music bouncing off the walls, it said ‘huh huh huh ha huh Hu Hu ha Fat and fat boys, fat and fat boys,’ that was the first song they played at the block party to call you to come ”Wrote Fat Joe on Instagram. “Today’s news is sad because the last member of the Fat Boys’ Prince Markie Dmorales said he was a great guy, a Legend and a pioneer. God bless my brother Boriqua until we meet again.
It was theirs Crushing cover of “Wipeout” with the Beach Boys that gave them their greatest success, reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their cover version of “The Twist” with Chubby Checker from Coming back hard again reached number 16 on the Hot 100 table.
After the Fat Boys split, Dee launched a solo career and wrote and produced songs for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Mary J. Blige (the last recording of Morales’ “Real Love” to become his first Top Ten hit). Your 1992 album Free achieved number one success with “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)”.
He moved to radio later in his career, serving as a WMIB drive-time host in Miami, and had his own program, The Prince Markie Dee Show at SiriusXM’s Rock the Bells station.
“They were figuratively (no jokes about weight) the biggest hip hop act ever,” wrote Questlove on Instagram. “As if the first act that showed that this culture could have real international legs … They were so cool that we just took them for granted. They did choreography and dance moves, the albums won gold and platinum. I made films, TV and commercials. They explored territories for the first time that today seem to * yawn * on a Tuesday. “