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Brother Marquis, a prominent member of the iconic 2 Live Crew, has passed away.
On Monday, June 3, the Miami-based group's manager confirmed to iHeartRadio that Marquis, born Mark D. Ross, has died. As of this report, a cause of death has not been confirmed. The group's official Instagram account announced his death but details about his passing are currently scarce. He was only 58 years old. Marquis was recruited by 2 Live Crew's Mr. Mixx to join the group alongside him, Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell and the late Christopher "Fresh Kid Ice" Wong Won, who also passed away in 2017.
"My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing," Uncle Luke wrote on social media. "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."
Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Brother Marquis made his debut in the music industry alongside Rodney-O as "The Caution Crew" in 1983. As a duo, they dropped singles like "Westside Storie" and "Rhythm Rock." His cousin gave him the name "Brother Marquis" in part due to their Muslim faith and their times riding around in a Grand Marquis. He landed on 2 Live Crew's debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are in 1986 and appeared on their other albums Move Somethin' (1988), As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989) and Shake a Lil' Somethin' (1996).
In the 1990's, Marquis went on to form the duo 2 Nazty with DJ Toomp and dropped their album Indecent Exposure in 1993. He also appeared on Ice-T's original version of "99 Problems" on his fifth studio album Home Invasion, which was later remade by JAY-Z. Throughout the 2000's and 2010's, Marquis, Mr. Mixx and Fresh Kid Ice reunited, dropped music and toured as 2 Live Crew until Kid passed away in 2017.
Rest in peace Brother Marquis.