Prince Markie Dee Of The Fat Boys Has Reportedly Died At 52

Prince Markie Dee of The Fat Boys has reportedly died at the age of 52 from congestive heart failure, reports AllHipHop. His passing was also confirmed by the likes of Questlove, Fat Joe, and Run The Jewels’ El-P, who all took to social media to mourn his death. Born Mark Morales, Prince rose to prominence with The Fat Boys alongside Kool Rock-Ski and the late Buff Love in the early 1980s. They would become one of the first rap groups to release full-length albums and achieve mainstream popularity, finding success alongside groups like Run D.M.C. and Whodini.

In 1984, The Fat Boys emerged with their Gold-certified self-titled debut album, which is heralded as a hip-hop classic. Its release would kick off a string of Gold albums that included 1985’s The Fat Boys Are Back and 1988’s Coming Back Hard Again. The group’s lone Platinum-certified album arrived in 1987: Crushin’, responsible for the group’s high-charting song, “Wipeout,” which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Despite the group’s success, The Fat Boys broke up at the turn of the decade. Prince Markie Dee went on to be a successful producer and solo act in the 1990s. He dropped his debut solo album Free in 1992, which also birthed his first No. 1 single, “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way).” He also wrote and produced songs for Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Craig Mack, and more. On a more recent note, he served as a radio host and DJ for Rock The Bells, who shared their condolences in a tweet saying “voice and his presence can never be replaced.”

Members hip-hop community took to social media to mourn the loss of Prince Markie Dee.