Whodini rapper John ‘Ecstasy’ Fletcher dies at 56

John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, co-founder of New York hip-hop group Whodini, which used electro-funk and R&B influences to expand the new genre into a commercially potent force, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

“African ancestors and Native Americans came together and chose this day, during the Winter Solstice, December 23, 2020, to invoke a more beloved, generous and sincere soul,” wrote Fletcher’s daughter, Jonnelle, in a statement.

“’One Love’ for one of the best in Hip Hop! There will never be another, ”added his bandmate Jalil Hutchins.

Fletcher was born in Brooklyn and grew up in the neighborhood’s Wyckoff projects. Whodini came of age in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and Kurtis Blow, some of the first artists to bring an emerging hip-hop culture to street parties guided by DJs and gain prominence in the music industry in general. Whodini’s sound – driven by synthesizers with a heavy mix of singing and rapping – would influence generations of artists and become the main sample material for Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Nipsey Hussle and Nas.

“This man was legendary and a key member of one of hip hop’s most legendary groups,” wrote Questlove of Roots on Wednesday after the news of Fletcher’s death.

Fletcher founded Whodini in Brooklyn in 1982 with singer and rapper Hutchins (DJ Drew “Grandmaster Dee” Carter joined a few years later). In his trademark wide-brimmed hat, Fletcher was the trio’s immediately recognizable face.

“Rap needed some sex symbols,” he told The Times in 1987. “There was really no one out there driving the girls crazy. Girls may like LL [Cool J] some but i’m talking about a real, honest sex symbol for God. It’s us.”

The group signed to the influential London label Jive and released what was arguably the first hip-hop music video for their single “Magic’s Wand”, which reached 11th place on the Billboard dance club charts.

“Jalil showed up with a guy named Ecstasy. [Jive] had no money and no contract for him, but [we] we threw the rule book out the window when we heard his verses and his voice, ”wrote Barry Weiss, the Jive executive who signed them. “We created Whodini’s name, threw caution to the wind and saw these two boys from Brooklyn conquering the world and setting the pace and tone for a generation of rappers who came after them.”

His early collaborators were an eclectic mix of new wave and experimental rock figures, like synth-pop hitmaker Thomas Dolby and Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, along with Larry Smith, an important figure behind Run-DMC

“I heard someone rap one day and I said to myself, ‘I can do this,'” Fletcher told The Times. “I rap in the tone. I try to be unique. I have my own style. I know some people say that all rap sounds the same, but there are a lot of differences. People who say that don’t listen to rap well enough. If they hear me, they will know that I am unique. “

The trio had their most acclaimed LP in 1984 with “Escape”, an album that destroyed the genre and helped expand the hip-hop audience while planting seeds for dance and electronic music. Singles like the vocodered funk from “Freaks Come Out at Night”, “Five Minutes of Funk” and “Friends”, a barbed and sarcastic view of relationships as the group’s fame grew, became their most well-known hits (” Friends “/” Five Minutes of Funk ”reached number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100, although” Escape “reached number 35 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. The group ended up winning two more gold albums.)

Under the command of then-entrepreneur Russell Simmons, who was going to found Def Jam Recordings, Whodini performed on the first major hip-hop tour, “Fresh Festival”, alongside Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC. These loud shows were crucial evidence of hip-hop as a national phenomenon. They also helped to prove that the genre was not a sound fashion occasionally adopted by pop artists like Blondie, but a turning point for black artists in the post-disco and soul era.

“The trio, together with producer Larry Smith, made the first hip-hop records that black radio embraced”, a critic Nelson George wrote in a Twitter post Wednesday

After 1986’s “Back in Black”, Whodini was the most highly rated support band on Run-DMC’s “Raising Hell” tour, listed above the then emerging LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. But the group’s rise coincided with the growth of hip-hop in America’s white suburbs. Whodini was onstage at the Long Beach Arena at a concert with Run DMC in 1986, where 40 participants were injured in an uproar that scared some hip-hop promoters live.

The next wave of rappers, like Public Enemy’s Chuck D, recognized Fletcher’s tutelage and influence.

“1987 I joined the @Defjam w PE tour,” he wrote on twitter. “I used to get nervous seeing 15,000 fans in front of me every night. There were 2 MCS who directly guided my calm that summer. 1 was @ RealDougEFresh and the other was Ecstacy of Whodini. Always ready to reassure advice [and] tips. “

Although the group’s sound increased and decreased in fashion in the following decades (their last album, “Six”, was released in 1994), dozens of New Jack Swing, gangsta rap and contemporary artists cited Whodini through samples, and it was a clear influence on artists like Weeknd and Tyler, the Creator, who looked to the 1980s for retro-futuristic inspiration.

The group’s 1980s and 1990s couples weighed in on the trio’s profound impact after news of Fletcher’s death. On Instagram, LL Cool J called Fletcher “one of the most important people in this culture for me”, and producer Jermaine Dupri posted: “My God, this one hurts me so much, I can’t believe I’m posting this, Ex you know that I I love you. ”

Dupri, who worked briefly with the group as a support dancer, produced “Six” and cited Whodini as a formative influence on his best-selling work with TLC.

Whodini continued to tour the classic rap nostalgia circuit and received awards at VH1’s Hip Hop Honors in 2007 and Black Music Honors in 2018.

Jonnelle Fletcher said in his statement that “John ‘Ecstasy’ Fletcher was a beloved man, Deltonia’s life partner and ex-husband of Carla, Joseph’s twin brother, artist, friend and lifelong partner of Whodini’s Legendary Jalil. “

“We’re fine – fine,” said Fletcher to The Times in 1987. “I don’t want to sound like a braggart. I prefer someone else to give us credit. But the truth is the truth. “