John “Ecstasy” Fletcher of pioneer hip-hop group Whodini dies at 56

A who’s-who from the hip-hop community took to social media on Wednesday to mourn the death of John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, best known as the charismatic, capped Zorro co-singer of Brooklyn Whodini’s pioneering rap trio . Questlove of the Roots was the first to share the sad news via its Twitter and Instagram accounts, posting: “A love for ecstasy from the legendary #Whodini. This man was legendary and a pivotal member of one of hip hop’s most legendary groups. He’s a sad man. The group’s Grandmaster Dee later confirmed the news to Variety, but no cause of death was given at the time of publication. Fletcher was 56 years old.

Fletcher formed Whodini with singer / lyricist Jalil Hutchins and turntablist Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee, in 1982, and they quickly became stars of the ’80s New York rap scene alongside Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. , Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, Run -DMC, The Fat Boys and LL Cool J. Managed by Russell Simmons, they released R & B / electro crossover club hits that laid the groundwork for the New Jack Swing movement, including ” Friends ”(which went to # 4 on Billboard’s Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Song Chart),“ Freaks Come Out at Night, ”“ Five Minutes of Funk ”and“ The Haunted House of Rock ”.

Whodini’s first single, ‘Magic’s Wand’, co-produced by British synthpop pioneer Thomas Dolby, was the first rap song to be accompanied by a music video, and Whodini was also a pioneer on stage: their live performances were the first rap gigs to feature the UTFO dance team and future super-producer Jermaine Dupri made their show business debut as a Whodini backup dancer at the age of 12. Dupri was of course one of many artists to pay homage to Fletcher, posting a flashback tour video to Twitter with the heartbroken caption: “My God this one is hurting me so much, I can’t even believe I post this, Ex you know I love you, thank you for every word, every conversation at every good moment, may your soul rest in power. “

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On their official Twitter account, Public Enemy wrote, “Ecstasy was my brother. I’ve been on the phone all morning. Ecstasy was one of the best to ever make a microphone vibrate. Whodini broke barriers, set trends and looked after us when we arrived. PE returned the favor as we sampled Whodini and took them on tour. We had a real brotherhood ”, whereas this group Chuck D also posted, “1987 I entered the @Defjam w PE tour. I tended to get nervous watching 15,000 fans in front of me every night. There were 2 MCS who directly guided my calm this summer. 1 was @RealDougEFresh, the other was Ecstasy of Whodini. Always there to reassure with advice.

A tribe called Quest’s Q-Tip called Fletcher “One of the most underrated voices in hip-hop,” LL Cool J called Fletcher “one of the most important people in this culture to me,” and Ice Cube thanked Fletcher “For showing us how to do it.” Other music heavyweights who paid tribute included Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, and Sheila E.

During their career, Whodini released six studio albums, four of which were certified platinum; their last LP, 1996 Six, was released on Dupri’s So So Def label. Whodini was also one of the most sampled hip-hop artists; “Friends” alone has been sampled over 150 times, including on tracks by Kanye West, Nas, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, the Pharcyde, Public Enemy, Nipsey Hussle, Will Smith, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Fabolous, Nate Dogg and E-40. The group appeared on 2007 Hip-Hop Honors VH1 and received the Hip-Hop Icon Award at the Black Music Honors in 2018.

Check out the tributes to John “Ecstasy” Fletcher below:

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