Rapper Brother Marquis, from the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew, has died at the age of 58.
Marquis’ – real name was Mark D. Ross – death was confirmed by the group’s manager to Rolling Stone, although a cause of death was not provided.
On Monday, 2 Live Crew announced on Instagram that the rapper had passed away.
The influential group, which was formed in the mid-1980s, were the first artists to have a “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label on an album.
Another member of 2 Live Crew, fellow rapper Fresh Ice Kid, whose real name was Christopher Wong Won, died in 2017.
Marquis was born in Rochester, New York, in 1966. In his teens, he moved to Los Angeles.
He later relocated to Miami and joined 2 Live Crew in 1986.
Working alongside DJ Mr. Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice and Luke Skyywalker, the group grew in influence and achieved commercial success.
It split up in the 1990s, before reuniting in the 2000s.
2 Live Crew courted controversy for their sexually explicit lyrics and album covers.
Their most successful song was 1989’s Me So Horny, from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.
It was the first album to be declared legally obscene by the US government.
Although the ruling was overturned a few years later, the attention it received helped the album to go double platinum.
The group followed this up in 1990 with Banned in the USA, which was the first album cover to feature a label warning buyers of explicit content.
Its title track was a direct reference to the banning of their previous album and featured a sample of Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA.
Banned in the USA’s cover featured the band wearing T-shirts which read: “Censorship is un-American.”
Before 2 Live Crew, sexually explicit lyrics weren’t as prevalent in rap music.
By BBC News
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