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2 Live Crew founding member Fresh Kid Ice dead at 53

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, July 13, 2017, 10:06 AM

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Fresh Kid Ice, a founding member of the rap troupe 2 Live Crew who was widely regarded as one of the first major Asian rappers in America, has died, according to colleagues and news sources.

He was 53.

The rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wong Won, died in a Miami hospital Thursday after suffering from an undisclosed medical condition,TMZ reported, citing his manager.

Fresh Kid Ice, whose grandfather was Cantonese, was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in 1964. He moved to Brooklyn in 1977, began a four-year tenure with the United States Air Force in 1982 and formed 2 Live Crew with fellow artists Mr. Mixx and Amazing Vee in 1984 while he was stationed in Riverside, Calif.

Fresh Kid Ice of 2 Live Crew has died.

(KRIS CONNOR/GETTY IMAGES)

He and 2 Live Crew broke into hip hop scene in Miami in the mid-1980s and quickly polarized listeners by taking sexually graphic rap lyrics to another level with profane hits like "Me So Horny" and "Throw the D."

Their most popular album, "As Nasty As They Wanna Be," was particularly polarizing and, a year after its 1989 release, became the first album to ever be deemed legally obscene by the United States government.

2 Live crew went on to reference the legal battle by naming their next album "Banned in the U.S.A." after getting approval to sample Bruce Springsteen's song, "Born in the U.S.A.," in the titular single. That album came out in 1990.

He and his 2 Live Crew colleague Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell were arrested in Hollywood after a performance in 1990 because authorities felt their lines were too profane.

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That obscene label was overturned in 1992, with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determining the album featured significant influences from African-American culture and literary traditions.

Fresh Kid Ice was the only 2 Live Crew member to appear on every one of the group's albums. He later formed his own record label called Chinaman Records.

A slew of rappers took to social media Thursday morning to mourn the rapper's death.

"My Condolence goes out to the family Chris Wong Wong Fresh Kid Ice of the 2 Live Crew who just passed away people we lost a legend," tweeted his former 2 Live Crew mate Uncle Luke.