Influential Flint rapper MC Breed, who was one of the first Midwest rappers to emerge onto the national hip-hop scene, has died, his manager has confirmed to The Detroit News. Breed was 36.Breed, who scored a hit with his 1991 lo-fi classic "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'" and later collaborated with a young Tupac Shakur, was found dead on Saturday at a friend's home in Ypsilanti, according to Darryl Morris, Breed's manager. No further details were available as of press time.
Breed, whose given name was Eric Breed, had recently been wrestling with health issues and was admitted to a hospital in his adopted home of Atlanta in September after suffering from kidney failure, according to reports. The rapper was put on life support, according to reports, and had only 30 percent functionality of his kidneys. Plans were put in place to throw a benefit concert for the rapper to raise money for his medical bills, but they were put on hold when his condition seemed to improve.
Breed's biggest hit was "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'," from his 1991 debut album, "MC Breed&D.F.C." The song sampled Zapp's "More Bounce to the Ounce" and the Ohio Players' "Funky Worm" and found Breed not only bragging about his hometown of Flint but also stating his goals for the highest office in the land. "If I was the President, then I would state facts," he rapped, "you leave it up to me, I'll paint the White House black."
Breed bolstered his cred when he collaborated with Shakur on "Gotta Get Mine," the lead single from his third album, 1993's "The New Breed." The song came just as Shakur was just starting to earn his bad-boy-of-rap reputation, and it reached No. 6 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart.
Over the course of his nearly 20-year career, Breed also worked with Too $hort, the D.O.C., Warren G and more. While never achieving full-fledged mainstream success, Breed was respected in hip-hop circles for his work ethic and his lucid, scratchy-voiced flow.
He recorded 13 albums, and released an album a year between 1991 and 2001. His final album, "The New Prescription," was released in 2004.
Detroit rapper Trick Trick says he looked up to MC Breed.
"I salute him for everything he did," Trick said Saturday. "It was good to see him break out of Flint. It gave a lot of us hope, like, 'We can do this, too.'"
Breed's career cooled considerably in recent years, and he spent eight months in prison for a parole violation that was a result of unpaid child support. In April, a Flint judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail as a result of owing more than $200,000 in unpaid child support to three different women.
― Andy K, Sunday, 23 November 2008 01:32 (seventeen years ago)