Died On This Date (November 22, 2008) MC Breed

MC Breed (Born Eric Breed)
1972(?) – November 22, 2008

MC Breed was a Flint, Michigan raised rapper who has been credited as being the first Midwest rapper to break out commercially.  Over a recording career that began in 1990, Breed released over a dozen albums from which cames such rap hits as “Aint No Future In You Frontin,” and “Gotta Get Mine” which featured Tupac Shakur.  MC Breed, 37, died suddenly of kidney failure on November 22, 2008.

RIP, Derek B (November 16, 2009) UK Rap Pioneer

Derek Boland
January 15, 1965 – November 16, 2009

Derek B was a British rapper who came on the scene during the mid ’80s.  He was just 15 when he started and was soon picked up by local radio stations to spin there.  He was soon hired by hip UK independent dance label, Music Is Life to do A&R.  Derek B released several records during his career, a couple reaching the top 15 on the UK charts.  He was one of the first British rapppers to appear on the Top of the Pops program due to his crossover appeal.  As a producer, Derek B worked with the likes of Cookie Crew and Eric B & Rakim.  Derek B was 44 when he died following a heart attack on November 16, 2009.

Died On This Date (November 16, 2000) Joe C. / Kid Rock

Joe C. (Born Joseph Calleja)
November 9, 1974 – November 16, 2000

Joe C. was a Michigan born rapper who gained fame as sideman to Kid Rock during the latter’s live performances.  Joe C. made his recording debut on Rock’s 1998 release, Rebel Without A Cause, and in 1999, he provided a solo track for the South Park soundtrack.  Joe C. suffered from an autoimmune disorder called Celiac disease his entire life.  The condition kept him from growing past 3 feet 9 inches tall and caused him to live in pain most of the time.  He once stated that he had to take as many as 80 pills a day in order to live a relatively healthy lifestyle.  Joe C., 26, succumbed to the disease while asleep at his parents house on November 16, 2000.

Died On This Date (November 13, 2004) Ol’ Dirty Bastard

Russell “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” Jones
November 5, 1968 – November 13, 2004

Russell Jones was an American rapper who went by the stage name Ol’ Dirty Bastard (often shortened to ODB). He was one of the founding members of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan.  Ol’ Dirty Bastard simultaneously brought a measure of humor and a touch of the absurd to the Wu-Tang Clan. Often noted for his unusual microphone technique (critic Steve Huey writes of Jones’ “outrageously profane, free-associative rhymes” delivered “in a distinctive half-rapped, half-sung style”), Jones’ stage name came from a 1980 kung fu film entitled Ol’ Dirty & The Bastard, the relevance of which was articulated by Method Man’s assertion that there was “no father” to Jones’s style. After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol’ Dirty Bastard went on to a successful solo career. However, his professional success was hampered by his erratic personal behavior and frequent legal troubles, including incarceration. He died in late 2004 of congestive heart failure as a result of an accidental drug overdose only two days before his 36th birthday.

Thanks to Craig Rosen at Number1Albums

On This Date (November 1, 2004) Mac Dre

Mac Dre (Born Andre Hicks)
July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004

Born Andre Hicks, Mac Dre was a San Francisco Bay area rapper who built a following during the ’90s due to his songs that chronicled life on the tough streets around him.  Throughout his career, he had several hits, including “Too Hard For This Fuckin’ Radio” and “California Livin.”  He also worked with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Too Short and Warren G.  Hicks started his own label in 2000, calling it Thizz Entertainment, where he was instrumental in the development of the hyphy sub-genre of rap.  Andre Hicks was 34 when he was gunned down by the occupants of another vehicle while he riding in a van with a friend.  Though the case has never been solved, a Kansas City rapper by the name of Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins was killed the following year in what is believed by some to be in retaliation for the murder of Hicks.

On This Date (September 13, 1996) Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur
June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996

The last known photo taken of Tupac Shakur, just 20 minutes before the shooting. With Suge Knight.

Tupac Shakur was a hip hop artist whose professional career basically began as a roadie and backup dancer for Digital Underground in the late ’80s, and ended as one of the biggest selling artists of all time.  He has sold upwards of 75 million albums before and since his untimely death.  Shakur’s albums generally portrayed a life growing up with violence, racism and the hardships some face growing up in the inner city.  For the most part, his songs professed social and racial equality.  Shakur was no stranger to the judicial system.  In 1995, he was convicted for sexual assault, which many believe never happened, and was sentenced to prison.  While serving his time, his album Me Against The World was released.  He became the only artist in history to have a #1 album while incarcerated.  On September 7, 1996, was involved in an altercation following a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas.  Later that evening while riding in a car driven by Suge Knight, a car pulled up beside Knight’s vehicle.  At least one occupant fired around a dozen shots into the car, hitting Shakur four times.  The 25 year-old Tupac Shakur died from injuries sustained during the shooting six days later.  His murder has never been solved.

RIP, Titus Glover aka Baatin (July 31, 2009) Rapper In Slum Village

Baatin (Born Titus Glover)
March, 1974 – July 31, 2009

Coming to prominence in the Detroit’s underground rap scene of the ’90s, Baatin was part of the popular rap group, Slum Village.  The group released several albums throughout it’s career, including a couple for Capitol Records.  Baatin left the group in 2002 due to undisclosed health reasons.  He passed away at the age of 35 on July 31, 2009.  Cause of death has not been released.

RIP, Ortega Henderson (May 27, 2009) Rapper aka Tega

Ortega “Tega” Henderson
1984(?) – May 27, 2009

Ortega Henderson, known as Tega was an up-and-coming rapper/MC who was closely associated with Nelly.  He recently worked on an a soon-to-be-released album with St. Louis hip hop group, Da Camp. Henderson died of injuries sustained from May 16th shooting.  He was just 25.

RIP, Dolla (May 18, 2009) Atlanta Rapper

Dolla (Born Roderick Burton II)
November 25, 1987 – May 18, 2009

Dolla was an up-and-coming Atlanta based rapper who was signed to Akon’s Kovict Muzik label in 2007.   He has released a handful of popular hip hop singles since his signing.  Songs to his credit include “Who The Fuck Is That?” (with T-Pain and Tay Dizm), “Make A Toast,” and “Feelin’ Myself” from the Step Up soundtrack.  Dolla was also a member of rap group, Da Razkalz Cru.  He was allegedly shot and killed on May 18th, 2009 after an altercation outside the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.  He was just 21.  Police later arrested Aubrey Berry at Los Angeles International Airport, charging him with the murder of Dolla.

On This Date (April 25, 2002) Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes / TLC

Lisa Lopes
May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002

Lisa Lopes was part of the Grammy winning R&B singing trio TLC, and was on her way to super-stardom when her life was tragically cut short at the age of 30.  TLC hit huge in 1992 with the release of Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip which sold in the neighborhood of six million copies.  They followed that up with the 15 million-selling CrazySexyCool.  By 1999, TLC albums had sold upwards of 30 million units, easily making them one of the most successful female groups of all time.  In the early 2000s, Lopes was off on a solo career, guest rapping on several hit records while working on her own solo debut which came out in 2001.  But in the spring of 2002, Lopes was taking a break from working on her second solo album as well as TLC’s fourth album by visiting Honduras.  On April 25,  Lopes was killed when the SUV she was driving rolled several times after swerving to miss another car.  Lopes was thrown from the vehicle and died from injuries she sustained.

On This Date (March 26, 1995) Eazy-E

Eazy-E (Born Eric Wright)
September 7, 1963 – March 26, 1995

Eric “Eazy-E” Wright was born September 7, 1964, in Compton, CA, a rough part of the Los Angeles metro area that N.W.A. would later make notorious. A high school dropout, Wright turned to drug dealing to support himself, and eventually used the profits to start his own rap label, Ruthless Records, with partner and music-business veteran Jerry Heller. E discovered a major performing talent in the D.O.C., and recruited Ice Cube and Dr. Dre to write songs for his stable of artists. When their composition “Boyz-N-the Hood” was rejected by Ruthless signee HBO, Cube, Dre, and E formed the first version of N.W.A. to record it themselves. Their first album, N.W.A. and the Posse, was released in 1987 and largely ignored; after a few tweaks of the lineup and the rough-edged subject matter, 1988’s Straight Outta Compton made N.W.A. into superstars. E seized the opportunity to release a solo project later in the year, titled Eazy-Duz-It, which would be the only full-length album he would complete; it would sell well over two-million copies.   After Ice Cube’s bitter departure from N.W.A. toward the end of 1989 (precipitated in part by Heller’s business tactics), Eazy-E took over his not inconsiderable share of the rapping and songwriting duties, becoming the group’s dominant voice on 1991’s Efil4zaggin. His taste for cartoon-ish vulgarity began to undermine the claims of realistic inner-city reporting that the group had used to defend themselves. Disputes between the members led to N.W.A.’s breakup that summer, and a court battle between Ruthless and Dre’s new label Death Row soon followed, with Eazy alleging that Death Row head Suge Knight had coerced Ruthless into releasing Dre from his contract. The case was eventually thrown out, but a bitter feud between Dre and Eazy raged for the next several years; Dre’s seminal solo debut The Chronic made merciless fun of Eazy. E’s 1992 solo EP 5150 Home 4 tha Sick sold well, but did little to dispel his increasingly cartoon-ish image; he found more success running the Ruthless label, with a roster that included Above the Law, N.W.A. bandmate MC Ren, the poorly received all-female group H.W.A. (Hoez With Attitude), and, eventually, the lucrative Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Eazy addressed his feud with Dre on the 1993 EP It’s On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, which famously included an actual photo of Dre wearing makeup and sequins during his World Class Wreckin’ Cru days. Still, save for dissing Dre, Eazy didn’t seem to have much to say, and despite healthy record sales, his artistic credibility was declining at an alarming rate. Eazy didn’t help matters much when, in early 1993, he spoke out in support of Theodore Briseno, the only LAPD officer involved in the Rodney King beating to express displeasure; later in the year, he paid 2,500 dollars to attend a Republican fund-raiser, which his detractors saw as a further betrayal of his roots.   In early 1995, Eazy entered the hospital with respiratory difficulties, believing he had developed asthma. The diagnosis was far more serious: he had contracted AIDS. Eazy announced his plight to the public shortly thereafter, winning admiration for his straightforward attitude. Sadly, just a few weeks later, on March 26, 1995, the disease claimed his life. – Steve Huey (allmusic)

On This Date (February 10, 2006) J Dilla aka Jay Dee

J Dilla aka Jay Dee (Born James Yancey)
February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006

Frequently and rightly placed in the same context as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Kanye West, Jay Dee built and sustained a high standing as a producer’s producer while maintaining a low profile. When Pharrell Williams appeared on BET’s 106 & Park in 2004, he excitedly declared that Jay Dee was his favorite producer and told an audibly stumped crowd that it had probably never heard of the man. At the time, Jay Dee had been active for well over a decade and had netted enough beats — including the Pharcyde’s “Runnin’,” De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High,” Common’s “The Light,” and several others with production teams the Ummah and the Soulquarians — to be considered an all-time great. Alternately known as J Dilla, or just Dilla, he never produced a mainstream smash and, in many cases, his presence has to be confirmed with a liner notes scan. (And even then, that might not help; he occasionally went uncredited.) He never marked his territory like Just Blaze (“Just Blaze!”) or Jazze Pha (“This is a Jazze Phizzle produc-shizzle!”), and he never hogged the mike like P. Diddy. He let his music, and its followers, do the talking. Rather than provide immediate (or fleeting) thrills, he was hooked on working the subconscious as much as the neck muscles. He was so focused on his work that it took a severe toll on his health.   Born and raised on the east side of Detroit, Dilla — James Yancey — was forced by his parents to become involved with music, and he was a record fanatic at a young age, absorbing funk and rap singles and jazz albums, from Slave to Jack McDuff. He learned to play cello, keyboards, trumpet, and violin, but drums got him like nothing else. He tried his hand at producing tracks on a tape deck by using the pause and record buttons, and he also took up MCing. In 1988, he formed Slum Village with Pershing High School friends Baatin and T3. It wasn’t until 1992, after receiving some valuable guidance from fellow Detroiter Amp Fiddler, that his talent really began to take shape.   A session keyboardist who had worked with Prince, Parliament, and Enchantment, Fiddler taught Dilla how to use the MPC drum machine. To say that Dilla was a quick study would be an understatement. Fiddler introduced his protégé to A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, who heard some of Slum Village’s material, liked it, and helped get the word out. Following sessions with First Down (a collaboration with Phat Kat, another Detroiter), Little Indian, and alternative rocker Poe, Dilla’s production career reached full flight. In 1996 alone, he worked with Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, and the Pharcyde, all the while playing a major role in the Ummah with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. (He did extensive work on Tribe’s last two albums.) Before long, hardcore hip-hop fans began to know Dilla for his steady wobble, which was unfailingly musical and rich in details — shuffling high-hats, oddly placed handclaps, spacious drum loops with drastically reshaped samples of tracks both obscure and obvious.   Through the remainder of the ’90s, Dilla quietly racked up more output, including Janet Jackson’s “Got ’til It’s Gone” (for which he did not receive credit), additional tracks for the Pharcyde, and collaborative work with Q-Tip on all of 1999’s Amplified. Largely upbeat and filled with boisterous energy and thick sounds, Amplified is one of many pieces of evidence against the argument that Dilla was about one sound and one style. During the producer’s steady rise, Slum Village remained a priority; Fantastic, Vol. 2 and Best Kept Secret (credited to J-88, an SV pseudonym) were released within weeks of each other in 2000. However, the producer would only contribute a few tracks to the group from then on, as his schedule became increasingly tight. As a core member of the Soulquarians, with James Poyser and the Roots’ Ahmir “?eustlove” Thompson, Dilla worked on Common’s Like Water for Chocolate, D’Angelo’s Voodoo, Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, and Talib Kweli’s Quality. Through 2005, he continued to work with past associates while dipping his toes further in R&B. A favor was returned on Fiddler’s 2004-released Waltz of a Ghetto Fly, and a couple dynamite tracks — Steve Spacek’s “Dollar” and longtime collaborator Dwele’s “Keep On” — were released the following year.   Amazingly, from 2001 on, Dilla was also a prolific solo artist. A couple singles and the Welcome 2 Detroit album came out in 2001, and a number of low-key instrumental compilations and incidental 12″ singles followed shortly thereafter. Rarely praised for his mike skills, he was often assisted by the likes of Phat Kat, Lacks, and Frank-n-Dank. Wooed by a Madlib mixtape that featured the rhymes of Oxnard’s finest over his own beats, Dilla forged an alliance with his admirer for 2003’s Champion Sound, released under the name Jaylib. It was around this time that his health took a sharp decline. For over two years, he had to use a dialysis machine. Despite having to perform in a wheelchair, he was still able to tour in Europe during late 2005. Donuts, an album of instrumentals that had been completed during one of his extended hospital stays, was released on February 7, his 32nd birthday. Three days later, while staying at his Los Angeles home with his mother, he passed away, a victim of cardiac arrest. – Andy Kellman (allmusic)

On This Date (February 3, 1998) Fat Pat / Texas Rapper

Patrick “Fat Pat” Hawkins
February 21, 1970 – February 3, 1998

Member of the 27 Club

Fat Pat was a rapper from Houston, Texas and an original member of DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click. Also known as Mr. Fat Pat and P-A-T, he was most prolific in the mid-1990’s alongside his brother Big Hawk and longtime friend Lil’ Keke. Fat Pat was signed to Wreckshop Records.  On February 3rd, 1998, Fat Pat was shot dead after collecting an appearance fee from a promoter’s apartment. – From last.fm