Why did Biz Markie die? Pioneer of the beatbox dies

Markie achieved great commercial success with the song “Just a Friend” and was known in the music industry as “The Clown Prince of Hip Hop” for his songs full of humor and irony that revolutionized rap, until then a more aggressive musical genre.

In addition, the singer was one of the promoters of the “beatbox”, which emerged on the New York music scene in the mid-1980s as a technique capable of recreating rhythms, bars and musical sounds using only the voice apparatus.

“We appreciate the many calls and prayers of support we have received during this difficult time. With his art, Biz left a legacy that will always be celebrated by his peers in the industry and his beloved fans,” the family said in a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter.

Although the family did not detail the reasons for his death, the newspaper recalled that Markie had long suffered from problems derived from diabetes and was hospitalized earlier this year.

Markie was born in the neighborhood of Harlem (New York) in 1964, where he promoted a new way of making rap that had its best examples in songs like “Vapor”, covered by Snoop Dogg, and “Just a Friend,” which went platinum single.

In 1990 the rapper was sued by Gilbert O’Sullivan, who considered that the song “Alone Again” used too many parts (“samples”) from his 1972 song “Alone Again (Naturally)”.

O’Sullivan won the lawsuit, whose sentence forever changed the way the hip-hop world is credited and inspired Markie’s fourth album, “All Samples Cleared!”

He also expanded his career to include acting, appearing in various movies and television shows, including “Men in Black II.” He was also a narrator in the adult puppet show “Crank Yankers” and in the children’s series “Yo Gabba Gabba!” with his “Biz’s Beat of the Day”.