Fat Boys Prince Markie Dee dies at 52

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Mark Anthony Morales, known as Prince Markie Dee of leading rap group The Fat Boys and successful songwriter and producer for Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and others, has died, according to his manager, Louie. Uncle Louie »Gregory. He was 52 years old.

While the Fat Boys were often seen as an early hip-hop novelty act, they actually racked up a string of hit albums throughout the 1980s and appeared in the popular films “Krush Groove” and ” Disorderlies ”. Morales was one of the group’s main rappers, songwriters and producers, and pursued a successful solo career releasing the album “Free” on Columbia, which featured the hit “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)” and “Love Daddy” on Motown three years later.

The Brookyn-sired group – Morales (pictured above, right), Darren Robinson (The Human Beat Box) and Damon Wimbley (Kool Rock Ski) – came under the tutelage of Kurtis Blow and benefited from his association with Russell Simmons, one of the main leaders of the early hip-hop world (although word at the time was that Madonna originally wanted the Fat Boys to open her 1985 “Like a Virgin” tour, but Simmons scrambled into his new act The Beastie Boys instead). Originally known as Disco 3, they adopted their plus-size physique and immediately caused a stir with their self-titled debut album. The band was a highlight of the legendary ‘Fresh Fest’ tours of 1984 and ’85, which also included Blow, Run-DMC, Whodini and, on the second tour, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Far from being a single-hit wonder, the band had a regular run of gold albums, with 1987’s “Crushin ‘” (their debut for the PolyGram affiliate label Tin Pan Apple) going platinum. Morales was also one of the first hip-hop stars of Latin descent.

As Questlove put it in an Instagram post paying homage to Morales on Thursday, “They were figuratively (without weighty jokes) the greatest act in hip hop at one time. Like the first act which showed that this culture could have real international paws. Like they were so funny, we just took them for granted. They did dope routines and dances, the albums went gold and platinum. I’ve done movies, TV shows, and commercials. They explored territory for the first time that today feels like * yawning * on a Tuesday. “

After the band split in the early 90s, Morales went on to produce early hits for Blige – including his first hit, “Real Love” – ​​Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Craig Mack and Marc Anthony. From 2008 he worked as a popular radio DJ in Miami.



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