NEW YORK 鈥� Prince Markie Dee, a member of the Fat Boys hip-hop trio who later formed his own band and became a well-known radio host, has died. He was 52.
His death was announced Thursday by the SiriusXM station Rock The Bells, which did not provide a cause of death.
Born Mark Morales in Brooklyn, Prince Markie Dee was a prolific songwriter and founding member of the Fat Boys, a group known for beatboxing that released several popular albums in the 1980s such as the platinum record 鈥淐rushin.'鈥�
Their 1984 debut album, 鈥淔at Boys,鈥� went gold, their next two albums sold millions of copies and they were featured in the films 鈥淜rush Groove鈥� and 鈥淒isorderlies.鈥�
Morales, Darren Robinson and Damon 鈥淜ool Rockski鈥� Wimbley were known as Disco 3 when they won a rap contest in Brooklyn in 1984. That win led to a record deal and a European tour during which they generated high room-service bills that earned the ire of their promoter, who started calling them 鈥渇at boys,鈥� a 1995 obituary for Robinson noted.
Morales formed his own band in 1993, Prince Markie Dee & The Soul Convention, which released the R&B hit 鈥淪wing My Way.鈥�
鈥淧rince Markie Dee was more than a rapper," the manager of the Fat Boys, Louis Gregory, wrote on Twitter. 鈥淗e was one of my very best and closest friends. My heart breaks today because I lost a brother.鈥�
Morales also worked with several other pop stars, including Destiny's Child and Jennifer Lopez, and as a radio host in Miami.
The Associated Press
