Hip-hop artist Fatman Scoop dies at 53 after collapsing on stage in Connecticut : NPR

NEW YORK — Fatman Scoop, the hip-hop artist who topped charts in Europe with “Be Devoted” within the early 2000s and later lent his distinctive voice and ebullient vibe to hits by artists together with Missy Elliott and Ciara, died after collapsing on stage at a present in Connecticut, in response to officers and his household. He was 53.

The reason for his loss of life wasn’t instantly clear.

He was acting at Hamden City Middle Park when he collapsed Friday night, city chief of employees Sean Grace stated Saturday. Mayor Lauren Garrett posted on Fb that he had a medical emergency. Concertgoers and paramedics tried to assist the artist, who was taken to a hospital, she stated.

His household stated in an Instagram submit that “the world misplaced a radiant soul, a beacon on stage and in life.”

With a gravelly voice and dance-floor-friendly sensibility, Fatman Scoop was a mainstay of membership playlists across the flip of the millennium. But when the world knew him because the “voice of the membership,” his household cherished him as “the laughter in our lives, a relentless supply of help, unwavering energy and braveness,” his relations stated.

“His music made us dance and embrace life with positivity. His pleasure was infectious and the generosity he prolonged to all will probably be deeply missed however by no means forgotten,” they added, saying he leaves a legacy “of affection and brightness.”

Born Isaac Freeman III, Fatman Scoop was from New York Metropolis’s Harlem neighborhood and broke out with 1999’s “Be Devoted.” What began as a minor success within the U.S. took off in Europe with a 2003 re-release, hitting No. 1 on the singles charts within the U.Ok. and Eire.

The subsequent yr, he appeared on the U.Ok. tv collection “Chancers,” through which musicians mentored artists who wished to make it within the U.S., the BBC reported. He additionally was a contestant on “Superstar Huge Brother 16: UK vs USA,” which was filmed within the U.Ok. and aired in 2015.

Scoop — generally stylized as Fats Man Scoop or FatMan Scoop — collaborated with Elliott on “Lose Management,” a 2005 tune of the summer season that additionally featured Ciara. The monitor gained a short-form music video Grammy on the 2006 award present.

The identical yr as “Lose Management,” he was featured on Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That.” He additionally was featured on tracks from Timbaland, David Guetta, The State of affairs and Skrillex, amongst different artists. In 2018, he reunited with Elliott and Ciara for a remix of the latter’s “Degree Up.”

Elliott praised Scoop’s “VOICE and vitality” Saturday on X, saying he had contributed to many songs that made folks completely satisfied over greater than twenty years.

“Your IMPACT is HUGE & will probably be NEVER be forgotten,” she added.

His longtime reserving company, MN2S, described him as an artist with “boundless enthusiasm,” a ardour for music and a voice and character that “made an indelible mark on the business.”

His MN2S consultant, Sharron Elkabas, stated in a press release Saturday that she had spoken to him a couple of days earlier.

“He was in such good spirits. It’s arduous to consider he’s not with us,” she stated.