Rapper Prince Markie Dee poses for photos backstage at the Marcus Amphitheatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in May 1993.

Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

2021 continues to tear our heartstrings apart. Reports are circulating that Mark Anthony Morales, bka Prince Markie Dee, of legendary '80s rap group The Fat Boys has passed away at the age of 52. Word on the cause of death has not been confirmed.

Being an early superstar on the hip-hop scene, Morales was typically viewed as the leader of the group known to rap with vigor about being obese but also dope on the mic. The trio of Morales as Prince Markie Dee, Darren "Buff Love (The Human Beat Box)" Robinson, and Damon Wimbley aka Kool Rock-Ski were originally named "The Disco 3," but later changed to "The Fat Boys" which stuck with them for the remainder of their career. Starting out in 1983, Morales and the crew won a talent show that put them in the bright lights of New York's Radio City Music Hall.

(L-R) Kool Rock Ski, Buffy and Prince Markie Dee
(L-R)The Fat Boys: Kool Rock Ski, Buffy and Prince Markie Dee
 
Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns
 

After the success of breaking through and meeting music executives, the placement on the mega-popular Fresh Fest Tour with Run-DMC catapulted the group to stardom and even appearing in early hip-hop film classics like Krush Groove and later their own movie, Disorderlies. Having a happy-go-lucky appearance and a hard rap style with strong flows and funny punchlines, kept Morales and crew from being laughing stocks and more respected MCs than one would think. Their albums and singles charted on Billboard with their biggest hit being "Wipeout" landing at #12 on the Hot 100.

 

Morales stayed more involved with the music industry as the Fat Boys went their separate ways by the late 80s into the 90s, by becoming a music executive as well as a songwriter and producer for Mary J. Blige, J. Lo, and many others. He also took his talents to Miami, Florida, and became a radio jock for stations in the area. Most recently, Morales took over the midday slot that his friend and ailing buddy Biz Markie vacated on LL Cool J's Rock The Bells Radio on Sirius/XM. You would hear Morales with his booming voice, smiling tone, and wild stories entertaining his listeners.

 

Please take some time to listen to the Fat Boys albums and watch a natural star in Prince Markie Dee as he commands every scene he was featured on in videos and film. Love to his family, friends, and fans.

Gaz Coombes and co. shared a mysterious teaser online, highlighting Monday’s date (September 16)

Supergrass are teasing an upcoming announcement with fans, according to a new post.

The British band, fronted by Gaz Coombes, shared a cryptic new post across their social media channels this morning (September 13), suggesting to fans that a new announcement is on the way.

Posted at 9am BST, the post simply shared artwork of the band’s logo in red, alongside next Monday’s date, September 16. In the caption, the band simply wrote: “Sign up now”, alongside a link to their website’s homepage.

Upon clicking the link, the page prompts fans to sign up for future updates, and asks them to input both their email address and the country they live in. Check out the post below.

 

While details on the announcement remain sparse, the post has already caught fans’ attention, with some speculating that the news could be around the upcoming 30th anniversary of their debut album, ‘I Should Coco’.

Released in May 1995, the release marked the record that first put the band on the map, and contained singles ‘Mansize Rooster’, ‘Caught By The Fuzz, ‘Lose It’ and ‘Lenny’. It also saw Coombes and Co. nominated at the 1995 Mercury Prize, and contained what would soon become their biggest track to date, the Ivor-Novello winning ‘Alright’.

At time of writing, the band haven’t shared any further indication as to whether the announcement is related to the huge upcoming milestone – whether it be an anniversary tour or reissue – nor whether it has anything to do with new music that could be on the way.

The band’s last studio album was ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’, which arrived in 2008. Since then, they have shared remastered versions of both their 1999 self-titled album and their 2003 record ‘Life On Other Planets’.

In other news around the band, last year it was reported that the band’s frontman joined Johnny Marr onstage last month to perform The Smiths‘ classic ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ at Lakefest 2023.

Before then, Coombes opened up about how “nervous” he was about reuniting Supergrass following the success of his solo albums.

Supergrass split up in 2010 but reunited for a series of live shows in 2019. They released a live album in 2020, Live On Other Planets, to celebrate their 25th anniversary and raise money for grassroots venues affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Having got into a flow and the last two albums having done so well, it seemed a bit odd, like a backward step,” he said. “But then I was confident that I could operate both things together and it seems that I did, because I was obviously writing this record mainly during the reunion so I feel like I made best use of both things.”

Coombes’ fourth solo album, ‘Turn The Car Around’, came out in January of last year.

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