Prince Markie Dee of hip hop trio Fat Boys died Thursday in Miami, just one day shy of his 53rd birthday.
A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
"One of my childhood idols & favourite mc’s of all time," tweeted Eminem, who called Dee "legendary."
Born Mark Morales in New York City, he created the Disco 3 – which would later become Fat Boys – in the early 1980s with Darren Robinson and Damon Wimbley. The trio released seven albums before splitting in the early 90s. (Robinson died from injuries sustained in a fall in 1995 at 28.)
Hits included “Jail House Rap,” “Can You Feel It?” as well as the Beach Boys collaboration “Wipeout” and their version of a Chubby Checker classic, “The Twist (Yo, Twist).”
“They were figuratively (no weight jokes) the biggest act in hip hop at some point in time,” Questlove wrote in an Instagram post. “Like the first act that showed this culture might have some real international legs to it. Like they were so dope we just took them for granted.”
Prince Markie Dee had some success as a solo artist thanks to singles like “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)” and wrote and produced hits for artists like Mary J. Blige and Destiny’s Child. He went on to work in radio.