Brother Marquis (Born Mark D. Ross)
April 4, 1966 – June 3, 2024
As reported by Greg Evans at Deadline, Brother Marquis, the iconic rapper and longtime member of the legendary hip-hop group 2 Live Crew, has passed away – currently of unknown causes – at the age of 58.
2 Live Crew was founded in 1984 in Riverside, California, but it wasn’t until they relocated to Miami and Brother Marquis, born Mark D. Ross, joined in 1986 that the group solidified its most famous lineup. Alongside Christopher Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), Luther Campbell (Luke Skyywalker), and David Hobbs (Mr. Mixx), Brother Marquis helped propel the group to new heights. This lineup achieved widespread fame and influence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, reaching a pinnacle with the 1989 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be. The album was both celebrated for its groundbreaking explicit content and heavily criticized, drawing condemnation from commentators and law enforcement.
In 1990, the group faced legal trouble when a Florida undercover police officer attended one of their performances, resulting in misdemeanor obscenity charges against three members, including Brother Marquis. The jury ultimately found them not guilty. Around the same time, a court ruling declared As Nasty as They Wanna Be legally obscene, marking the first instance in U.S. history where an album received such a designation. This ruling was later overturned on appeal.
Ross was born on April 4, 1966, in Rochester, New York. He spent time in both Los Angeles and Miami before joining 2 Live Crew in 1986. His debut with the group was on their album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are. He also contributed to their subsequent albums, Move Somethin’ (1988), As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989), Banned in the U.S.A. (1990), and As Nasty as They Wanna Be Part II (1991).
2 Live Crew disbanded in the mid-1990s, but they reunited for tours in the 2000s and finally parted ways following the death of Fresh Kid Ice in 2017. After the group disbanded, Ross continued his musical career, appearing on various records. Notably, he collaborated with Ice-T on the track “99 Problems” from Ice-T’s 1993 album Home Invasion.
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