Brother Marquis, the rapper who rose to fame as a member of the Miami hip-hop group 2 Live Crew, has died. The rapper, born Mark Ross, passed away on Monday at the age of 57. His death was confirmed by 2 Live Crew’s manager to TMZ, with the group writing on social media that Brother Marquis “went to the upper room.” Although a cause of death was not disclosed, sources told TMZ that it appears Marquis died of natural causes.
Born in Rochester, New York, in 1966, Brother Marquis got his start in the music industry after moving to Los Angeles as a teenager and crossing paths with rapper Rodney-O while still in junior high. The pair went on to form the Caution Crew, releasing a handful of 12″ singles like “Westside Storie” and “Rhythm Rock,” per Pitchfork. He eventually caught the attention of DJ Mr. Mixx, who formed 2 Live Crew with the late Fresh Kid Ice and Amazing Vee in Riverside, California, 1984.
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“One day, I got a call to come to Miami with Mr. Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice, and Luther Campbell and that’s what I did, and we started making records, Miami bass records, with a subject matter that we got here out of Miami,” Brother Marquis told Miami News Times in 2014.
Brother Marquis officially joined 2 Live Crew in 1986, working alongside DJ Mr. Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice, and Luke Skyywalker. That same year, the group released their debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, which featured the controversial breakout hit, “We Want Some P**sy.” The group skirted more controversies with their following albums, including 1989’s As Nasty As They Wanna Be, which was ruled obscene by a Florida judge, per PEOPLE, and led to the arrests of Luke Skyywalker, Fresh Kid Ice, and a record store owner who refused to stop selling the album. The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals later overturned the obscenity ruling, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.
Brother Marquis also featured on 2 Live Crew’s 1988 album Move Somethin’, the 1990 album Banned in the U.S.A., which became the first rap album to feature the black-and-white “parental advisory explicit content” label,” and the 1991 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be Part II. Although the group disbanded in the ’90s, Brother Marquis, reunited with Fresh Kid Ice and DJ Mr. Mixx to record “Hoochie Mama” for the soundtrack to the film Friday. They also reunited in the 2000s, and Brother Marquis remained in the group for their final album, 1998’s The Real One.
“My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing,” Luke Skyywalker wrote in remembrance. “We took on so many fights for the culture 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. The Brother Marquis, that I know would want us to celebrate his life that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. R.I.P My Brother.”
Outside of 2 Live Crew, Brother Marquis also featured on Ice-T’s song “99 Problems” from the rapper’s 1993 album Home Invasion, and released the solo album Bottom Boi Style Vol. 1 in 2003. He is survived by his daughter.
