2 Live Crew’s Brother Marquis Dead At 57
One of the members of the Miami group headed by Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, 2 Live Crew, Brother Marquis, has recently died at the age of 57.
A social media post from the Instagram account of the group’s page announced the death of the rapper, whose real name was Mark Ross on June 3. TMZ reported that it appears he died of natural causes.
“Mark Ross AKA ” Brother Marquis of the 2 Live crew has passed away #2livecrew”
View this post on Instagram
Uncle Luke released a statement via his X account (formerly known as Twitter):
“My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing. We took on so many fights for the culture made Great music together something I would never forget. 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. The Brother Marquis, that I know would want us to celebrate his life that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. R.I.P My Brother.”
Brother Marquis was not a founding group member but joined 2 Live Crew in 1986. According to Entertainment Weekly, the rapper was added to the Miami Bass group two years after the late Kid Fresh and DJ Mr. Mixx moved to Miami after living in Riverside, Calif. He was on the debut album, “The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are.”
He hailed from Rochester, N.Y., before moving to Ross moved to the Golden State as a teenager. Before joining the 2 Live Crew, Marquis was in a group with Rodney-O called the Caution Crew. His former partner gained popularity when he and Joe Cooley connected and released a single, “Everlasting Bass” in 1988 (Which was recently sampled for the Metro Boomin’ song featuring Future and Kendrick Lamar, “Like That” which sparked the Lamar/Drake beef earlier this year).
Marquis was on future projects by 2 Live Crew, including 1988’s “Move Somethin,” and 1989’s “As Nasty as They Wanna Be, ” their best-selling album. After appearing in 1990’s “Banned in the U.S.A.” and 1991’s “Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2.” the group’s last album, “The Real One” released in 1998 was also their eighth offering.
A solo album by Marquis, “Bottom Boi Style Vol. 1” was released in 2003.
Marquis is survived by his daughter.
