Brother Marquis, member of rap group 2 Live Crew, dead at 58

Brother Marquis, a member of the 1980s rap group 2 Live Crew, died Monday, according to the group’s social media account. He was 58.

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The rapper, who was born Mark Ross, was part of the Miami-based group that included Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, Chris “Fresh Kid Ice” Wong Won and David “Mr. Mixx” Hobb, the Miami Herald reported. Fresh Kid Ice, a founding member of the group, died in 2017, according to USA Today.

TMZ was the first outlet to report Ross’ death, which was attributed to natural causes.

Campbell posted condolences on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We took on so many fights for the culture made Great music together something I would never forget,” Campbell wrote. “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.”

Ross was born on April 4, 1966, in Rochester, New York and spent his teen years in Los Angeles, People reported.

He joined 2 Live Crew in 1986 and debuted on the group’s album that year, “The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are,” according to the magazine.

The group’s 1989 hit, “Me So Horny,” and “Hoochie Mama” were written by Ross, according to the Herald. In 1990 the group’s “As Nasty As They Wanna Be,” was declared the first legally obscene album by a federal court, USA Today reported.

The decision made it illegal for retailers in South Florida to sell the album, but the ruling was overturned two years later by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, the Los Angeles Times reported. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, according to Rolling Stone.

The clean version of the album, “As Clean as They Wanna Be,” included the track “Pretty Woman,” according to USA Today.

“I came up with that hook,” Ross said about “Hoochie Mama,” the Herald reported. “I got that hook out in L.A., where they used to call ‘em hoodrats and hoochie mamas. Then me and Mr. Mixx came down here and did it.”

After 2 Live Crew disbanded in the mid-1990s, Ross continued to appear on records. He was an emcee for Ice-T on “99 Problems” on the rapper’s 1993 album, “Home Invasion,” according to People.

Ross told Rolling Stone in a 2015 interview that it did not bother him that lyrics were more suggestive than he was when the group was controversial.

“They did what they did to us but we fought and won, for rappers and singers and everybody to have the freedom to say whatever they want in their material,” Ross told the magazine. “That makes me feel good and proud, actually. I stood up for that. I fought for that.”

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