Brother Marquis, Member of the 2 Live Crew, Dead at 58

Brother Marquis joined the 2 Live Crew in 1986, cementing his status as a Miami hip-hop icon.

June 3, 2024

Image: Brother Marquis performing on stage at LIV nightclub in Miami Beach

Brother Marquis (AKA Mark Ross), member of the 2 Live Crew, died on June 3 at the age of 58. Photo by Chris Carter

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Today, news broke that 2 Live Crew member Brother Marquis (AKA Mark Ross) died at the age of 58. No official cause of death was given.

Ross' death was announced on the group's official Instagram page, with the caption reading, "Mark Ross, AKA Brother Marquis of the 2 Live Crew, has passed away." Members Luther Campbell (AKA Uncle Luke) and David Hobbs (AKA Mr. Mixx) have not commented publicly on Ross' death.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Ross' journey to Miami hip-hop icon started in 1986 when Hobbs recruited him to join the 2 Live Crew. Although the group had scored a hit with "Throw the D," which served as a blueprint for the emerging Miami bass sound, Marquis helped cement the 2 Live Crew's legacy of sexually explicit lyrics that courted controversy.

The controversy turned into success in the form of the Gold-certified debut album The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, 1988's Movin Somethin', and the group's most notorious album, the Platinum-certified and at one point legally obscene As Nasty As They Wanna Be.

The 1989 album set a legal precedent in the Supreme Court case Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. The 2 Live Crew had recorded the track "Pretty Woman," a parody of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman," complete with provocative lyrics. The group had attempted to get a license for Orbison's song and was denied, but the 2 Live Crew released the track anyway. In 1994, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of 2 Live Crew, emphasizing the importance of transformative use and the value of parody within the fair-use doctrine. This decision set a significant precedent for future cases involving parodic works and fair use.

The crew's next album was a landmark in not only hip-hop but freedom of speech as 1990's Banned in the U.S.A. became the first album to bear the infamous "Parental Advisory" sticker.

Over the subsequent years, the group was in and out of court due to multiple lawsuits based on copyright and obscenity, eventually hurting the 2 Live Crew's popularity. The group would reunite in 2006, touring and releasing music until Fresh Kid Ice's death.

Brother Marquis will be remembered as one of the pioneers of Miami hip-hop and the Miami Bass sound.

Osvaldo Espino is an entertainment writer who focuses primarily on music. He graduated from the University of Miami's School of Communications, where he studied film and journalism. He is also a former staff writer for the school's paper, the Miami Hurricane.

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