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Mark D. Ross (April 4, 1966 – June 3, 2024), better known by his stage name Brother Marquis, was an American rapper and a Miami bass pioneer. Ross was born in Rochester, New York. In his teens, he moved with his mother to Los Angeles, California. By the early 1980s, Ross started to release music and made an impression on DJ and producer David Hobbs (Mr. Mixx). Hobbs was part of the group 2 Live Crew, who had just created the Miami Bass blueprint, and were successful in Florida. This led Ross accepting an invitation to join them. Due to his comedic sensibilities, Ross integrated easily into the direction the group was taking. Alongside Hobbs, Christopher Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), and Luther Campbell (Luke Skyywalker), they became the most well-known line up of the group. In 1986, they had a breakthrough with their Gold-certified debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are.
The group's success came with controversies due to the explicit nature of their humor. They continued their rise to fame with their second album, Move Somethin' (1988), which also went Gold. Their third album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989), was certified Platinum and found legally obscene by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (soon overruled). In the press, the group received national scrutiny. They were prosecuted and acquitted. Prior to separating, they made two more Gold albums: Banned in the U.S.A. (1990) and Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2 (1991).
In the early 1990s, Ross embarked on various musical endeavors. He formed the duo 2 Nazty with DJ Toomp and released the album Indecent Exposure in 1993, showcasing his versatility and prowess. During the same year, Ross was a featured rapper on Ice-T's album Home Invasion, contributing to the original version of "99 Problems", which later was remade by Jay-Z into a top charting hit.
With different lineups Ross made two more albums with 2 Live Crew Shake a Lil' Somethin' (1996), which reached #145 on the Billboard 200, and The Real One,(1998) which peaked at #59 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2006, Ross and Wong Won, as 2 Live Crew, reunited, started touring, released singles, and made several album announcements until Wong Won's death in 2017.

Brother Marquis

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