Rapper Chris Kelly of Kriss Kross is Dead
Rapper Chris Kelly of Kriss Kross is Dead
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Rapper Chris Kelly, who shot to fame as
part of the 1990s duo Kriss Kross, has been found dead at his home in
Atlanta, reports said on Thursday. He was 34.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its website that Kelly died possibly of Dug Overdose.
The
rapper — known by fans as “Mac Daddy” — was found unresponsive at his
home on Wednesday and rushed to Atlanta Medical Center where he was
pronounced dead. An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday.
Kelly partnered with Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith to form Kriss Kross in
1990. The duo’s best-known hit was 1992′s “Jump” which sold four million
copies in the United States and topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts for
eight weeks.
Kelly and Smith were known for wearing their clothes back-to-front, a
quirk referenced by the singer’s mother Donna Kelly Pratte in a
statement reported by several US media outlets early Thursday.
“To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards
pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music,” she said.
“But to us, he was just Chris — the kind, generous and fun-loving
life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel
blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him.”
Discovered at a mall (form CNN)
Kelly and Smith were 13-year-olds when they were discovered in 1991 at an Atlanta mall by producer Jermaine Dupri.
Going by the stage name
Mac Daddy (with Smith known as Daddy Mac), the pair followed up their
smash "Jump" with the single "Warm It Up."
Together, the songs pushed their debut album, "Totally Krossed Out," to multiplatinum status.
Next came 1993's "Da Bomb."
But the album failed to
find the following of the duo's debut, in large part because the boys
had hit puberty and they were marketed with a tougher image.
Their career never again reached the heights of their debut, but they continued to make music.
In 1996, the duo released the album "Young, Rich and Dangerous."
The pair reunited for one night in February for a 20th anniversary party for Dupri's So So Def label.
Rapper Da Brat, who also
performed that night, wrote about Kelly's death, "REST IN PEACE TO MY
LIL BRO CHRIS KELLY OF KRIS KROSS. Dam wasn't we JUST at rehearsal and
doin a So So Def20 show?"
RIP!!!!
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