2 Live Crew Rapper, Brother Marquis, Dies At 58

Mark Roth (aka Brother Marquis) from the rap group 2 Live Crew arrives at the 21st Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Pasadena, Calif., on March 10, 2007. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Rapper Brother Marquis, member of the Miami hip-hop group “2 Live Crew”, has died at 58-years-old.

The group confirmed news of his passing in an Instagram post on June 3. No further details were provided, and the official cause of death remains unclear.

“Mark Ross AKA “ Brother Marquis of the 2 Live crew has passed away #2livecrew,” read the caption.

Mr. Marquis, whose full name was Mark D. Ross, joined the crew in 1986 alongside members Luke Skyywalker (Luther Campbell), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs).

Mr. Campbell took to social media to offer his condolences, saying he would continue to honor Mr. Marquis by celebrating his life the way he wanted to.

“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,” he wrote.

“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,” he continued.

Mr. Campbell and Mr. Hobbs are the last remaining of the group. Rapper Fresh Kid Ice passed away back in 2017 at the age of 53.

2 Live Crew

Born in 1966 in Rochester, New York, Mr. Marquis moved to Los Angeles as a young teen with dreams of becoming a rap star.

It was in Riverside, California where 2 Live Crew would originate with its founding members DJ Mr. Mixx and Fresh Kid Ice. It was at the age of 19 Mr. Marquis became friendly with the two before being accepted into the group in 1986.

The group relocated to Miami, Florida and released their debut album, “The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are", that same year.

Rising to fame throughout the 80’s and 90’s, the group peaked with their 1989 album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be” and hit platinum sales.

Despite being a hit with fans, the album was met with controversy due to its sexually explicit language, adult nature of songs, and album covers.

As a result, one Florida judge ruled the record “legally obscene,” leading to the arrest of Luke Skyywalker and the late Fresh Kid Ice as they continued to push the album.

The two, including Mr. Marquis, were charged with misdemeanor obscenity charges but were found not guilty by a jury.

However, in 1992, the obscenity decision was also later overturned by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after it was ruled that the album had significant influences from African-American culture and artistic value.

Mr. Marquis was featured on three other popular studio albums “Move Somethin’ (1988)”, “Banned in the U.S.A. (1990)”, and “Sports Weekend (1991)” all of which gained gold status.

“Banned in the U.S.A.” was the first to feature the black-and-white ‘parental advisory explicit content’ label, paving the way for labeling other explicit rap albums to follow.

The group disbanded in the mid-90s, but Mr. Marquis remained active in the music scene. He featured on several albums and songs from other notable rappers, including the Ice-T track “99 Problems,” which Jay-Z later sampled.

Over the last two decades, 2 Live Crew would come together for reunion tours before calling it quits for good after the death of Fresh Kid Ice.