2 Live Crew Rapper Brother Marquis Dead at 58

The hip-hop group’s longtime manager confirmed Marquis’ death on Monday, June 3

Mark Ross, better known as rapper Brother Marquis and a member of the influential Miami hip-hop group 2 Live Crew, has died at the age of 58.

2 Live Crew’s longtime manager, DJ Debo, confirmed Marquis’ death. However, he provided no additional details.

Sources told TMZ Ross’ death “appears to be natural” and no foul play is suspected.

The hip-hop group’s Instagram account shared the news on Monday, June 3. “Mark Ross AKA Brother Marquis of the 2 Live Crew has passed away #2livecrew,” read the caption.

Ross was born on April 4, 1966, in Rochester, N.Y. He spent his adolescence in Los Angeles before moving to Miami and joining the Florida-based hip-hop group.

Ross joined the rap group in 1986 and worked alongside DJ Mr. Mixx, Fresh Kid Ice, and Luke Skyywalker throughout the ’80s and ’90s. He made his debut with the group on their 1986 album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are. He also appeared on the 1988 album Move Somethin’, the 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be, the 1990 album Banned in the U.S.A., and the 1991 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be Part II.

Their 1989 album was a controversial record, leading one Florida judge to rule it obscene. This led to the arrest of group members Luke Skyywalker (Luther Campbell) and the late Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), as well as a record store owner who refused to stop selling the album. However, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the obscenity ruling, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, per Rolling Stone.

After the group disbanded by the mid-’90s, Ross was later featured on several records throughout the remainder of his career. He also emceed with Ice-T on “99 Problems” on the rapper’s 1993 album Home Invasion.

Although the group parted ways in the ’90s, Ross, Mr. Mixx (David P. Hobbs), and the late Fresh Kid Ice reunited in the 2000s and toured performing new music until Fresh Kid Ice’s death in 2017.