Brother Marquis from the hip-hip group 2 Live Crew has passed away aged 57.
The manager of the Miami rap group confirmed that Brother Marquis, real name Mark Ross, had died on Monday. No further details about his death were disclosed.
Marquis joined the group in 1986 and formed the most well-known line-up alongside Christopher Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), Luther Campbell (Luke Skyywalker) and David Hobbs (Mr. Mixx).
The group released eight albums throughout their initial run, from 1986’s The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are to 1998’s The Real One.
They were controversial in America due to the sexually explicit nature of their lyrics. In 1990, their third album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, was ruled legally obscene and made illegal to sell.
Three members of the group, including Brother Marquis, endured an obscenity trial for performing songs from that album at a nightclub. They were ultimately found not guilty and the ruling against the album was overturned in 1992.
Outside of the group, Marquis formed the duo 2 Nasty, featured on Ice-T’s song 99 Problems, and released the solo project, Bottom Boi Style Vol. 1. He reunited with various members of the 2 Live Crew on and off from the mid-2000s.
His bandmate Fresh Kid Ice passed away in 2017.
