Biz Markie, the innovative yet proudly goofy rapper, D.J. and producer whose self-deprecating lyrics and off-key wail on songs like “Just a Friend” earned him the nickname Clown Prince of Hip-Hop, died on Friday. His death was confirmed by his manager, Jenni Izumi, who didn’t provide a cause. He had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his late 40s and said that he lost 140 pounds in the years that followed. A native New Yorker and an early collaborator with hip-hop trailblazers like Marley Marl, Roxanne Shanté and Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie began as a teenage beatboxer and freestyle rapper.

Source: New York Times July 17, 2021 00:22 UTC