January 21, 1998 – Member of the group Force MDs Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. (February 3, 1964 – January 21, 1998)

January 22, 2010 – Flava Unit emcee Anthony “Apache” Peaks died from undisclosed causes. (December 26, 1964 – January 22, 2010)

February 2, 2015 – Joshua “Dust La Rock” Prince died. (December 9, 1976 – February 2, 2015)

February 2, 2015 – Dominic “The Jacka” Newton was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in Oakland, California. (August 1977 – February 2, 2015)

February 3, 2016 – Keith “Big Kap” Carter died. (December 9, 1976 – February 3, 2016)

February 10, 2006 – James Dewitt “J Dilla” Yancey died of cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles, California. (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006)

February 14, 2013 – Timothy “Tim Dog” Blair died at Hospice Atlanta, Dekalb County, GA from complications from diabetes. (January 1, 1967 – February 14, 2013)

February 15,1999 – Lamont “Big L” Coleman was killed in a drive by shooting. (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999)

April 19, 2010 – On February 28, 2010, Keith Elam fell into a coma following surgery due to cardiac arrest. His production partner MC Solaar asserted that Guru had briefly awakened from his coma to pen an open letter and died from cancer shortly after on April 19, 2010 at the age of 48. (July 17, 1961 – April 19, 2010)

April 27, 2014 – Rodney “Skip” aka “DJ EZ Rock” Bryce died of undisclosed causes (1968 – April 27, 2014)

May 1, 2006 – Rapper and founding member of the Screwed Up Click, John Edward “Big Hawk” Hawkins was shot and killed. (November 15, 1969 – May 1, 2006)

May 1, 2013 – Chris Kelly from the group Kriss Kross was found unresponsive in his Atlanta home. Kelly was pronounced dead around 5 pm on the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center; he was 34 years old. (August 11, 1978–May 1, 2013)

May 2, 2016 – Marin County Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters responded to the home of activist and mother of slain rap legend Tupac, Shakur Afeni Shakur Davis’ home in Sausalito, Calif., Monday night after she suffered a possible heart attack. She was taken to a local hospital and died just before 10:30 p.m. She was 69 years old. (January 10, 1947 – May 1, 2006)

May 4, 2012 – Adam “MCA” Yauch of seminal Hip-Hop act the Beastie Boys lost his battle with cancer. In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer of the parotid gland, a salivary gland in the throat and had been undergoing treatment via surgery and radiation therapy. (August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012)

May 18, 2009 – Rapper, model and former member of the group Da Razkalz, Roderick Anthony “Dolla” Burton II was shot and killed outside a shopping mall in Los Angeles, California. Aubrey Berry was arrested for his murder and was later acquitted on all charges.(November 25, 1987 – May 18, 2009)

May 19, 2003 – Georgia rapper Jason “Camoflauge” Johnson was shot and killed outside of a recording studio. (December 9, 1981 – May 19, 2003)

May 23, 2005 – Rapper Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins was shot and killed in California in what was believed to be retaliation for his alleged shooting and killing of rapper Mac Dre. After a 10 month manhunt, rapper Mac Minister was captured and found guilty for Fat Tone’s murder. (April 29, 1981 – May 23, 2005)

May 25, 2014 – Scott “DJ Father Shaheed” Phillips died in a motorcycle accident in New York. (November 14, 1968 – May 25, 2014)

June 4, 1991 – Rapper LaTasha Sheron “MC Trouble” Rogers died in her sleep due to complications related to a brain tumor. She was the first female rapper signed to Motown Records. (July 30, 1970 – June 4, 1991)

June 9, 2015 – Underground rapper and battle emcee Robert “Pumpkinhead” Diaz died of unknown causes. (September 17, 1975 – June 9, 2015)

June 13, 2015 – Dewayne “MC Supreme” Coleman, best known for his 1990 single “Black In America,” died in a car crash in Malibu, California. (1968 – June 13, 2015)

June 17, 2012 – Victim of a baton beating by LAPD who’s acquittal of the beating sparked the LA riots, Rodney King died of an accidental drowning. His plight influenced a lot of the West coast music. (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012)

June 17, 2016 – Singer, rapper and member of the group P.M. Dawn, Prince B. died of renal disease associated with his battle with diabetes. (May 19, 1970 – June 17, 2016)

July 8, 2012 – Kevin Michael “KMG” Gulley of seminal West Coast rap group Above The Law has passed away from a presumed heart attack.
Above The Law was signed to Eazy-E’s Ruthless Records in 1989 and released their debut, the gold selling Livin’ Like Hustlers which included production from Dr. Dre, a year later. The Pomona, CA groups third album, Vocally Pimpin’, would also go gold and the group would eventually release eight albums in total. Above The Law’s last album, S-x, Money & Music, its first after a 10 year hiatus, was released in 2009.

July 11, 2015 – Bruce “Hussein Fatal” Washington Jr., member of Tupac Shakur’s group The Outlaw Immortalz died in a car accident.

July 15, 2001 – Rapper, producer and founding member of the hip-hop group Gravediggaz, Anthony Ian “Poetic” aka “Grym Reaper” Berkeley died of colon cancer. (November 15, 1964–July 15, 2001).

July 17, 2012 – Femcee and member of the hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions, Ramona “Ms. Melodie” Scott died of undisclosed causes. (March 21, 1969–July 17, 2012).

July 18, 2016 – Bobby “DTTX” Ramirez from the group A Lighter Shade Of Brown passed away from suspected cardiac arrest and heat stroke after being found unconscious on a sweltering street in Las Vegas. He spent 11 days in a comma before succumbing to his condition. (September 26,1969 – July 18, 2016)

August 8, 2015 – Emcee and member of the groups Heltah Skeltah, Boot Camp Clik and Random Axe, Sean “Ruckus” Price died in his sleep. The cause of death was not immediately available. (March 17, 1972 – August 8, 2015)

August 30, 2012 – Music industry executive, co-founder of record label, management, and marketing company Violator, Darrell Steven “Chris” Lighty was found dead in his Bronx apartment from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He represented artists Nas, Ja Rule, Mobb Deep, Missy Elliott, L.L. Cool J, and 50 Cent. He served as Sean “Diddy” Combs’ manager. The New York Times called him “one of the most powerful figures in the hip-hop business.” His death was ruled a suicide. (May 8, 1968 – August 30, 2012)

September 9, 2015 – Aaron Gerald “Kool DJ AJ” O’Bryant, best known as the DJ for his work with Kurtis Blow and Busy Bee, died from unknown causes.

September 13, 1996 – While in the critical care unit Tupac Shakur died of internal bleeding. Doctors attempted to revive him but could not stop the hemorrhaging. His mother, Afeni Shakur, made the decision to tell the doctors to stop. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm (PDT). The official cause of death was noted as respiratory failure and cardiopulmonary arrest in connection with multiple gunshot wounds that he received on the night of September 7th. (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996)

September 19, 2009 – Turntablist, DJ, producer and member of the group X-Ecutioners, Anthony “Roc Raida” Williams died from cardiac arrest due to complications while training in Krav Maga. (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009)

September 21, 2016 – Rapper, founding member of the group D4L and D4L Records founder Carlos “Shawty Lo” Walker died in a single car accident while leaving an Atlanta Gentlemen’s club. The crash happened around 2:20 AM when Shawty Lo’s car went over a guardrail, hit two trees, and caught on fire; he was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. (March 31, 1976 – September 21, 2016)

September 28, 1983 – Graffiti artist Michael Jerome Stewart died of cardiac arrest following an arrest by New York City Transit Police for spray-painting graffiti on a subway station wall.

September 29, 2011 – Sylvia Vanderpool-Robinson, known as the Mother of Hip-Hop, died at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey from congestive heart failure. (March 6, 1936 – September 29, 2011)

October 09, 2015 – Rapper and Three 6 Mafia founding member Robert “Koopsta Knicca” Cooper Phillips died from a stroke. (April 27, 1975 – October 9, 2015)

October 10, 2012 – Actor Leo O’Brien, best known as Richie Green in the 1985 film The Last Dragon and younger brother of Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien from The Sugarhill Gang, died in his sleep of unknown causes most likely related to his being shot 3 times on September 5, 2011. (November 12, 1970 – October 10, 2012)

October 14, 2007 – Kenneth “Big Moe” Moore, pioneering member of Houston’s “Original Screwed Up Click” died after suffering a heart attack one week earlier that left him in a coma. There was speculation that recreational codeine use in the form of ‘Purple Drank’ may have contributed to his death. (August 20, 1974 – October 14, 2007)

Actor, legendary pop locker, and member of Los Angeles dance crew The Lockers, Fred Allen “Rerun” Berry died at his Los Angeles home where he was recovering from a stroke. (March 19, 1951 – October 21, 2003)

October, 30 2002 – Jason William “Jam-Master Jay” Mizell was shot and killed at 7:30 pm in a Merrick Boulevard recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002)

November 1, 2004 – Andre Louis “Mac Dre” Hicks was a passenger in a vehicle driving on a freeway in Kansas City, Missouri when a gunman shot at his vehicle. The driver crashed and was able to get to a phone to call 911 but Hicks was pronounced dead at the scene from a bullet wound. (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004)

November 8, 2011 – Dwight Arrington “Heavy D” Myers died in Los Angeles, California at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from a pulmonary embolism. (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011)

November 10, 2007 – The mother of Kanye West, Dr. Donda West, died after complications following surgery at the age of 58. (July 12, 1949 – November 10, 2007)

November 13, 2004 – Russell Tyrone “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” Jones collapsed at approximately 4:35 p.m. at RZA’s recording studio (36 Chambers Records LLC on West 34th Street in New York City) and was pronounced dead at 5:04pm. The autopsy found a lethal mixture of cocaine and the prescription drug tramadol, thus the official cause of death was a drug overdose which was eventually ruled accidental. His funeral was held at Brooklyn’s Christian Cultural Center and drew a crowd of thousands. (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004)

November 16, 2000 – Robert Earl “DJ Screw” Davis, Jr. died of a drug overdose. A prescription-strength codeine cough syrup mixed with soda to concoct a beverage called purple drank and valium and PCP were found in his blood. His funeral took place at Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church in his hometown of Smithville, Texas. (July 20, 1971 – November 16, 2000)

November 26, 2003 – James Adarryl “Soulja Slim” Tapp, Jr. was shot in front of his home in New Orleans. The rapper was featured on Juvenile’s 2004 US No.1 single ‘Slow Motion.’ (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003)

November 30, 1995 – Rapper, producer and actor Randy “Stretch” Walker was shot four times by three men while driving his green minivan at 112th Ave. and 209th St. in Queens Village. Stretch was killed exactly one year (almost to the minute) after 2pac’s 1994 Quad Studio shooting, and some believe that his killing was a form of retaliation. Stretch produced and appeared on many songs by Tupac. (April 8, 1968 – November 30, 1995)

December 4, 2007 – Chad Lamont “Pimp C” Butler, founding member of the group UGK (Underground Kingz), was found dead in his Los Angeles hotel room from respiratory failure due to an overdose of promethazine and codeine coupled with a preexisting sleep apnea condition. (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007)

December 10, 2011 – Karryl “Special One” Smith from the group Conscious Daughters was found dead at her home from complications associated with blood clots that reached her lungs.

December 20, 2010 – New Orleans-based, bounce music femcee and one of the first women signed to Cash Money Records, Renetta Yemika “Magnolia Shorty” Lowe-Bridgewater was shot and killed in the Georgetown apartment complex in New Orleans East at about 12:30 a.m. (September 30, 1982 – December 20, 2010)

December 21, 2013 – Three 6 Mafia founding member Ricky “Lord Infamous” Dunigan died in his sleep of a heart attack at his mother’s house in Memphis. Though not ill at the time, he suffered a stroke and heart attack in 2010. (November 17, 1973 – December 20, 2013)