Young L, Founding Member of Bay Area Rap Group the Pack, Has Died

Young L appears on the cover of his 2010 solo mixtape "L-E-N." The Bay Area rapper and producer, best known for his work with The Pack on the 2006 hit "Vans," died at 39. 

Young L, the Bay Area rapper and producer whose offbeat production helped turn The Pack's 2006 sneaker anthem "Vans" into a national hit, has died, according to Too $hort, the hip-hop veteran who helped launch the group's career.

Born Lloyd Omadhebo, Young L was the principal beatmaker behind the Berkeley quartet, which brought skateboarding culture and a stripped-down, electronic twist on hyphy to hip-hop at a time when the Bay Area sound was reaching audiences well beyond Northern California.

Too $hort announced his death Thursday in an Instagram tribute, sharing a photograph of the producer and praising the group's influence on other artists.

"I never heard a Young L beat that didn't SLAP," he wrote.

Young L was 39. His exact date and cause of death have not been disclosed. No public statement from his family was available as of Friday morning.

Too $hort remembers Young L, the rapper and producer behind The Pack's breakout hit "Vans," in an Instagram tribute posted Nov. 12, 2026. View the original tribute.

The Pack came together in 2005 when Young L joined forces with Lil B, Stunnaman and Lil Uno, four teenagers connected by their love of skateboarding and rap.

Young L and Lil B met at Albany High School. Young L was experimenting with music-production software, and Lil B needed beats. Their earliest recordings came out of a closet in Young L's home.

"I didn't have anybody to rap over my beats, so we just hooked up," Young L recalled in a 2010 interview with The FADER.

Their breakthrough, "Vans," emerged from the group's 2006 mixtape "Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 2." Built around a sparse, insistent beat and a chant celebrating the California skate-shoe brand, the song spread through MySpace and Bay Area radio before reaching a national audience.

Writing for GlobalGrind in 2010, Young L recalled that the group recorded the song in his bedroom closet. What began as friends making music for fun had become something much bigger.

Too $hort heard the record, sought out the young group and signed The Pack to his Up All Nite imprint through Jive Records.

But Young L was already thinking beyond one hit.

"We didn't get signed because of 'Vans,'" he told XXL in July 2006. The group had recorded more than 100 songs in the preceding year, he said.

The Pack's official music video for "Vans," the group's 2006 breakthrough hit produced by Young L. (The Pack/Jive Records via YouTube)

Young L produced the group's "Skateboards 2 Scrapers" EP, released later in 2006, and helped establish the sound heard on its 2007 debut album, "Based Boys." His beats mixed the bounce of Bay Area rap with electronic textures, unusual rhythms and minimalist arrangements that left plenty of room for the group's personalities.

His creativity extended beyond The Pack. He released solo projects including the 2010 mixtape "L-E-N" and the 2013 instrumental EP "Convulsion," experimenting with sounds that moved further from the group's original formula.

He also co-founded the streetwear label Pink Dolphin, which became a recognizable name in hip-hop fashion.

Bay Area rapper Mistah F.A.B., who worked with The Pack, remembered watching Young L develop clothing ideas at his mother's home in El Cerrito. In his tribute, he recalled that the producer "Stayed sending me beats and cooking up fire."

Members of The Pack reunited for new music in 2018. Young L told The FADER they had "brought back that Wolfpack sound once again for the fans" as the group released a video for "Why U Wanna Do That."

By then, Lil B had become a prominent figure in internet-era rap, while Young L had established a body of work as a producer, solo artist and entrepreneur.

It was a long way from the bedroom where four teenagers began recording songs without knowing where the music might take them.

In his 2010 GlobalGrind essay, Young L explained what he hoped other artists would learn from The Pack's success:

"We want to influence the industry by showing up-and-coming artists that you can be successful without having to sound like everyone else."

Rochelle Fleming, First Choice Singer Whose Voice Helped Shape House Music, Dies at 72

 

Rochelle Fleming, founding member and lead singer of First Choice, helped shape disco and house music with recordings including “Doctor Love,” “Love Thang” and “Let No Man Put Asunder.” Fleming died Nov. 5 in Philadelphia at age 72. (Photo courtesy of BMG)

Rochelle Fleming's voice helped define disco in the 1970s. It was still filling dance floors decades later.

The lead singer and founding member of Philadelphia R&B group First Choice, whose recordings became essential building blocks of house music and influenced generations of artists, died Nov. 5 in Philadelphia. She was 72.

Her longtime manager, George Iz Correia, announced her death on behalf of the Fleming-Finney family. No cause was disclosed, and arrangements for a celebration of her life have not been announced.

Fleming rose to fame with First Choice, the vocal group behind "Armed and Extremely Dangerous," "Smarty Pants," "The Player," "Doctor Love" and "Let No Man Put Asunder."

LISTEN: First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder," featuring Rochelle Fleming's lead vocals, became a touchstone of house music. Listen on YouTube. Audio provided through BMG Rights Management.

But the full measure of her influence extends well beyond the group's original run.

"Let No Man Put Asunder," recorded for First Choice's 1977 album "Delusions," became a defining record in house music as DJs and producers introduced it to new audiences through remixes, sampling and reinterpretation.

Mary J. Blige later recorded her own version for her 1999 album "Mary."

And First Choice's influence extended into another generation of hip-hop and electronic music. J. Cole sampled "Wake Up to Me" on his 2019 hit "Middle Child," while Kaytranada drew from "Love Thang" for "10%," his collaboration with Kali Uchis that won a Grammy for best dance recording.

For listeners who knew those later records but not the original group, Fleming's voice had been part of the soundtrack all along.

Born in Philadelphia in 1954, Fleming began singing with schoolmates Annette Guest and Wardell Piper. The group, initially known as the Debonettes, eventually became First Choice.

Their breakthrough came with 1973's "Armed and Extremely Dangerous," which reached No. 11 on Billboard's R&B chart and crossed over to the pop market.

Working with Philadelphia producer Norman Harris, the group helped bridge the soulful harmonies of the early 1970s and the rhythm-driven disco sound that followed.

Fleming's commanding vocals remained central to that identity as First Choice recorded for labels including Philly Groove and Gold Mind, the latter associated with Salsoul Records.

The group disbanded in 1980, but its music continued to circulate through dance clubs, remixes and subsequent recordings.

Fleming pursued a solo career, recording songs including "Love Itch" and "Danger!" She also continued performing, preserving the musical legacy of First Choice while finding audiences who had discovered the group long after its initial success.

BMG, which represents part of the group's catalog through Salsoul, paid tribute Monday, describing Fleming as an artist whose recordings helped shape Philadelphia soul, disco and dance music.

Remembering Rochelle Fleming

BMG, which represents part of First Choice's catalog through Salsoul, has published an official tribute tracing Fleming's influence from Philadelphia soul and disco to house music.

Read BMG's tribute

Dan Baxter, the company's senior vice president of global catalog recordings, said the songs continued reaching new listeners through remixes and samples.

"Her voice and the joy it brought to so many will not be forgotten," Baxter said.

Fellow Philadelphia group Sister Sledge also mourned Fleming, praising her soulful voice and the music she left behind.

Her manager remembered someone who preferred to call her supporters "sweeties" rather than fans.

Some knew Fleming from First Choice's original hits. Others discovered her decades later through house music, remixes and hip-hop samples.

Nearly half a century after "Let No Man Put Asunder" was recorded, her voice was still filling dance floors.

Juan Atkins, Founding Figure of Detroit Techno, Dies at 64

Juan Atkins, a founding figure of Detroit techno whose 1983 Cybotron recording “Clear” was sampled in Missy Elliott's hit “Lose Control,” died at 64. His death was confirmed Sunday by his representatives.

A sound that helped invent Detroit techno in 1983 was still moving dance floors more than two decades later, when Missy Elliott built one of her biggest hits around it.

The man behind that sound, Juan Atkins, has died at 64.

Atkins, a Detroit DJ and producer widely regarded as one of techno's founding figures, was found unresponsive in a Mexico City hotel room ahead of a scheduled Halloween performance. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Sunday, according to Greensmith Artists, his agency, which confirmed his death to electronic music publication Resident Advisor.

A cause of death has not been officially established.

Atkins helped lay the foundation for electronic dance music through his work with Cybotron, Model 500 and his independent Metroplex label. Alongside fellow Detroit innovators Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, he became part of the Belleville Three, the trio credited with helping establish Detroit techno.

But his influence reached well beyond electronic music.

In 1983, Atkins and collaborator Richard Davis released “Clear” as Cybotron, combining a relentless electronic rhythm, synthesizers and an otherworldly sense of space.

In 2005, Missy Elliott sampled “Clear” for “Lose Control,” her hit featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop. The song became one of the defining dance records of the decade, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Missy Elliott's 2005 hit "Lose Control," featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop, samples Cybotron's 1983 recording "Clear," co-written by Juan Atkins and Richard Davis. (Missy Elliott/YouTube)

Atkins and Davis received songwriting credits on the recording, which also sampled Hot Streak's “Body Work.”

For listeners who knew the song primarily through Elliott's music video and its explosive choreography, the connection offered an introduction to an earlier generation of Black electronic music.

Atkins' musical education began in Detroit, where he absorbed the funk of George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic alongside the electronic experiments of Germany's Kraftwerk. Radio personality the Electrifying Mojo helped bring those sounds together for a generation of Detroit listeners.

After moving to Belleville as a teenager, Atkins befriended May and Saunderson. Their shared interest in synthesizers, dance music and futuristic production eventually helped create a sound unlike the disco, funk and pop dominating American radio.

Atkins founded Cybotron with Davis in 1980. Along with “Clear,” the duo recorded influential tracks including “Alleys of Your Mind” and “Techno City.”

He later moved forward under the name Model 500, releasing “No UFO's” in 1985 and establishing Metroplex, a label that became central to Detroit's developing electronic music scene.

As the music spread overseas, particularly through clubs in Europe, the innovations of Atkins and his Detroit contemporaries helped shape a worldwide movement.

The word “techno” itself became closely associated with the sound through Atkins' music and the late-1980s British compilation that introduced Detroit artists to a broader international audience.

Saunderson, one of his fellow Belleville Three members, paid tribute to Atkins on social media.

“Juan was the originator of Techno, a true visionary who opened the door for so many of us, myself included,” he wrote, according to Mixmag.

Saunderson also recalled Atkins teaching him how to finish his first record, “Triangle of Love,” a gesture that helped launch his own career.

Other artists, including Kenny Larkin, Roger Sanchez and Fatboy Slim, joined the tributes following the announcement of Atkins' death.

Although techno became a global commercial genre, its origins in Detroit's Black music community have not always received equal recognition.

Atkins' recordings remain among the clearest evidence of that history: music rooted in funk and electronic experimentation that crossed continents, influenced generations of producers and eventually found its way into hip-hop and R&B.

More than 40 years after Cybotron recorded “Clear,” the beat that helped define his legacy still sounds unmistakably ahead of its time.

Freddie Jackson, Platinum-Selling R&B Singer, Dies at 70

Freddie Jackson appears during a 2019 interview on "Sister Circle Live." The R&B singer, whose hits included "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" and "You Are My Lady," died Monday at 70. (Sister Circle TV via screenshot)

Freddie Jackson, whose unmistakable voice and string of chart-topping love songs made him one of R&B's biggest stars of the 1980s, has died. He was 70.

Jackson died Monday, three days after his birthday, his family announced Tuesday on his official Instagram account. No cause of death was disclosed.

The Harlem-born singer ruled R&B radio with hits including “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake),” “You Are My Lady,” “Tasty Love” and “Have You Ever Loved Somebody,” collecting 10 No. 1 singles on Billboard's R&B chart and two platinum albums along the way.

His family remembered him as a “kind, generous soul” and thanked the listeners who had supported his music and performances over the decades.

FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENT

Jackson's family announced his death Tuesday on his official Instagram account. Read the family's original statement.

Jackson's rise was immediate.

His 1985 Capitol Records debut, Rock Me Tonight, produced four Top 10 R&B singles. The title track spent six weeks at No. 1, while “You Are My Lady” became his biggest crossover hit, introducing him to pop audiences without sacrificing the sound that had made him a favorite on Black radio.

Freddie Jackson performs "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)," his 1985 breakthrough hit. (Capitol Records/YouTube)

His follow-up, 1986's Just Like the First Time, kept the hits coming. “Tasty Love,” “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” and “Jam Tonight” all topped the R&B chart, establishing Jackson as much more than a balladeer.

He also reached No. 1 with “A Little Bit More,” a duet with Melba Moore, and continued his run of hits into the 1990s.

Jackson's commercial success placed him among the leading male R&B singers of a period dominated by artists including Luther Vandross. But it also reflected the power of Black radio, where an artist could build a major career without achieving comparable success on the pop charts.

Jackson was keenly aware of that distinction.

In a 1988 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he discussed the pressure on Black performers to change their music in pursuit of crossover success.

“Crossover is just icing on the cake,” he told the newspaper.

Freddie Jackson performs "You Are My Lady," one of his signature R&B hits. (Capitol Records/YouTube)He was equally clear about changing musical tastes. As Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure! helped usher in a more hip-hop-influenced era of R&B, Jackson told Billboard in 1988 that he respected the emerging sound but intended to remain rooted in the traditional soul music his audience expected.

The approach continued to pay off. His third album, Don't Let Love Slip Away, produced more R&B hits, including “Hey Lover” and “Nice 'n' Slow.” The title track from his 1990 album Do Me Again also reached No. 1.

His cultural footprint stretched beyond the charts. In 2000, Big Boi name-checked Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass in OutKast's “So Fresh, So Clean,” placing two generations of soul singers in the middle of a hip-hop classic.

Born Oct. 2, 1956, Jackson began singing gospel at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church, where he met future producer and songwriter Paul Laurence. After working New York clubs and singing with the group Mystic Merlin, he recorded demos and sang backup for Moore before launching his solo career.

His breakthrough earned two Grammy nominations in 1986: best new artist and best male R&B vocal performance for “You Are My Lady.”

Jackson continued recording long after his chart dominance faded, releasing music independently and returning in 2023 with My First Love.

In 2024, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with kidney disease and partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to promote awareness. His family has not linked the illness to his death.

The family said details of memorial arrangements and opportunities for fans to honor Jackson would be announced later.

Memphis Honors Tay Keith With Music Lab, Key to City and Day of His Own

Grammy-nominated producer Tay Keith is shown in an undated promotional portrait. Memphis Public Libraries dedicated the Tay Keith Music Lab on Monday, creating a music production space for young people in honor of the late Memphis hitmaker, whose credits included Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Drake’s “Nonstop” and Beyoncé’s “Before I Let Go.”

Before Tay Keith was producing No. 1 records with some of hip-hop's biggest stars, his sister remembers the work beginning in a little blue, yellow and white house on Bruton Street in Memphis.

On Monday, his hometown put his name on a room where somebody else's career might begin.

Memphis Public Libraries formally dedicated its music production room inside Cloud901 at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library as the Tay Keith Music Lab, honoring the late Grammy-nominated producer while expanding an initiative aimed at giving young people access to music-production tools and instruction.

Keith's older sister, Lisa Austin, told those gathered for the dedication that the family's Raleigh home was where her brother discovered his love of music, started making beats and built the foundation for what the world would eventually know as Tay Keith.

But Austin made clear that the family did not want the room to function simply as a memorial.

“This lab is more than just putting Tay's name on a room,” Austin said. “It's about access and opportunity.”

Cloud901 is Memphis Public Libraries' free technology and production center for teenagers ages 13 to 18. The Tay Keith Legacy Foundation donated to the project, which is being developed into a broader initiative around Keith's life, career and commitment to young people.

Plans include hands-on beat-making and music-production instruction, a permanent archival collection and oral histories with Keith's relatives, friends and associates.

Library officials said they hope to collect photographs, handwritten notes, studio material, correspondence, memorabilia and other pieces of Keith's history. Family members and others who knew him will also be invited to record their memories through the library's 901Voices oral-history project.

At Monday's ceremony, library officials said the collection is intended to preserve not only Keith's career but the stories behind it for people who may encounter his work generations from now.

The project also extends work Keith had begun before his death.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Keith and his team contacted him shortly after Young became mayor because the producer wanted to discuss how he could make deeper investments in Memphis.

One conversation turned into a standing habit.

Keith told Young he planned to call him every Monday.

Tay Keith's family and Memphis officials dedicate the Tay Keith Music Lab at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Sept. 21, 2026.

“And he called me literally every Monday,” Young said.

Young said that even after becoming a successful producer, Keith was routinely checking in with the mayor because he wanted to figure out how to make a larger impact on the city that raised him.

Keith also worked with the city's Office of Youth Services on the My Memphis Poetry Challenge, which encouraged young Memphians to use writing to express their creativity and connection to the city. Young cited the project Monday as another example of Keith's interest in creating opportunities for young people. The competition itself was also documented by the Memphis City Council and local reporting.

Memphis added two other honors around what would have been Keith's 30th birthday.

Young proclaimed Sept. 20 Tay Keith Day in Memphis and presented Keith's family with a key to the city during Monday's dedication.

The mayor said young Memphians entering the lab will be able to see Keith's name, use the equipment and recognize that someone from their city reached the highest levels of the music business.

“Somebody from Memphis did it, and they can too,” Young said.

Keith, born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, developed from a young Memphis producer into one of the most successful hitmakers of his generation. His credits include Travis Scott's “Sicko Mode,” Drake's “Nonstop” and “First Person Shooter,” along with work for artists including Beyoncé, Eminem, Cardi B, 21 Savage and Sexyy Red. BMI honored him three times as its R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year.

He died June 18 at his Nashville apartment at 29.

Days before the Memphis ceremony, the Nashville medical examiner disclosed that Keith's death had been ruled accidental. The cause was toxicity involving ketamine and several mitragynine-related compounds associated with kratom. Police had said no foul play was suspected.

Monday's dedication, however, was centered less on how Keith died than on what his family and hometown want to continue in his name.

Austin said the hope is that a young person walks into the Tay Keith Music Lab, creates a first beat and eventually becomes the next major producer or creative to come out of Memphis.

Then she distilled the purpose of the room into two sentences.

“Tay's legacy lives on,” Austin said. “And now he gets to help build someone else's.”

Cassandra Wilson, Singular Voice Who Connected Jazz, Blues and R&B, Dies at 70

Cassandra Wilson performs at the Ottawa Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario, on July 3, 2008. The two-time Grammy Award winner, whose rich contralto and adventurous approach brought jazz into conversation with blues, R&B, folk and other musical traditions, died Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in her native Jackson, Mississippi. She was 70. (Photo by Scott Penner/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy-winning singer whose unmistakable contralto carried blues, R&B, folk, country and the sounds of her native Mississippi into some of the most adventurous jazz recordings of her generation, has died. She was 70.

Wilson died Tuesday morning in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, Hinds County Coroner Jeramiah Howard confirmed. Her longtime manager, Robert Torre, announced her death Wednesday, saying Wilson died peacefully at home surrounded by family and close friends.

A cause of death was not announced.

Wilson emerged as a major voice in the 1980s and became one of jazz's most distinctive stars during the following decade, challenging expectations about both what a jazz singer should sound like and what songs belonged in a jazz repertoire.

Her breakthrough 1993 album, “Blue Light ’Til Dawn,” drew from blues, jazz, folk and popular music and included her interpretations of songs associated with Robert Johnson, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell.

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“New Moon Daughter” pushed the idea further in 1995, moving from Billie Holiday and Son House to Hank Williams, Neil Young and the Monkees without losing the musical identity holding it together.

The album earned Wilson her first Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance.

She would win again for “Loverly,” released in 2008, and received four Grammy nominations during her career.

Wilson's reach also extended into hip-hop during a period when the genre's relationship with jazz was rapidly evolving. She appeared on “Swept Away” from the Roots' 1995 album “Do You Want More?!!!??!,” a record that helped establish the Philadelphia group's live-band approach to hip-hop.

For Wilson, crossing those boundaries was less a detour than an extension of where she came from.

Born in Jackson in 1955, she grew up listening to music that included Motown, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Her father, Herman B. Fowlkes, was a musician, and Wilson began piano lessons at 6 before taking up other instruments.

After spending time in New Orleans, she moved to New York in the early 1980s and became associated with saxophonist Steve Coleman and the M-Base Collective, the experimental group of musicians whose ideas helped reshape contemporary jazz.

Wilson eventually moved toward the spacious, acoustic sound that became one of her signatures.

Her low, instantly identifiable voice could make familiar material sound as though it had originated somewhere else entirely.

That quality allowed Wilson to move through musical traditions that were often separated by genre labels — Delta blues, jazz standards, rock, folk, R&B and country — while keeping Mississippi at the center of her sound.

Jon Batiste, who toured with Wilson early in his career, remembered that quality Wednesday.

In a tribute posted after her death, Batiste wrote that Wilson's combination of folkloric, R&B, diasporic, experimental and popular music had a major influence on him. He said her Mississippi heritage remained present regardless of how far her music traveled stylistically.

“She was one of the first people to take me on tour around the world, the great Cassandra Wilson,” Batiste wrote.

Jackson Mayor John Horhn also paid tribute to Wilson, saying the city had lost an extraordinary native daughter and the world a singular musical voice.

Wilson's later work continued to resist easy categorization.

In 2015, she released “Coming Forth by Day,” an album honoring Billie Holiday released during the centennial of Holiday's birth. It would become Wilson's final studio album.

The National Endowment for the Arts named Wilson a Jazz Master in 2022, placing her among recipients of one of the nation's highest honors for jazz musicians.

Wacko, Rapper Whose ‘Nolia Clap’ Became a New Orleans Anthem, Dies

The cover of UTP's 2004 “Nolia Clap” release. The title track, co-written by Damon “Wacko” Grison, Juvenile, Skip and producer Donald “XL” Robertson, reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Rap-A-Lot Records)

Damon “Wacko” Grison, the New Orleans rapper whose work with Juvenile and Skip helped turn “Nolia Clap” into a national hit and an enduring piece of the city's hip-hop history, has died.

News of Grison's death was announced by New Orleans Room on Instagram, followed by a remembrance from Mia X and condolences from Young Buck, DJ Paul and Big Freedia. His age and cause of death have not been publicly confirmed.

For listeners who encountered UTP during its national breakthrough in the mid-2000s, Wacko was one of the three rappers behind “Nolia Clap.”

His connection to the record ran considerably deeper than that.

Juvenile said so himself.

“That's really more like Wacko's song,” Juvenile told Complex in 2013 while breaking down the most important records of his career.

According to Juvenile, Wacko had been singing the “Nolia Clap” hook around the studio before the group traveled to the West Coast and connected with producer Donald “XL” Robertson. They began building the track around Wacko's idea, with Juvenile saying Mannie Fresh and producer Slice T later added touches to the record.

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The songwriting credits support Wacko's creative role.

Grison shares credit on “Nolia Clap” with Terius Gray, better known as Juvenile; Clifford Nicholas, better known as Skip; and Robertson.

The record became UTP's biggest national hit, reaching No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

That success arrived after UTP had undergone considerable change.

Juvenile formed the Uptown Project Playas as he was separating from Cash Money Records. The early collective had fluid membership and included appearances from Wacko, Skip, Soulja Slim, Corey Cee and Young Buck. After Young Buck left for G-Unit and Soulja Slim was killed in 2003, UTP narrowed into the Juvenile-Wacko-Skip trio most listeners came to know.

Their album “The Beginning of the End...” arrived in May 2004 through Rap-A-Lot Records, with “Nolia Clap” opening the record.

The “Nolia” referred to the Magnolia Projects, officially the C.J. Peete Public Housing Development, in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood. The complex became an important incubator of the city's music across generations and was home to artists including Juvenile and Soulja Slim.

A Closer Walk, the New Orleans music-history project presented by WWOZ, includes “Nolia Clap” among the recordings tied to the Magnolia and traces the development's role in the rise of New Orleans hip-hop.

Wacko and Skip remained part of Juvenile's musical orbit after UTP's breakthrough. Both appeared on Juvenile's 2006 album “Reality Check,” including Wacko's appearances on “Sets Go Up” and “Way I Be Leanin'.”

By 2007, Juvenile was out of UTP and Wacko and Skip continued the group without him, releasing “Back Like We Left Something” through Rap-A-Lot.

Mia X said in her remembrance that Wacko had continued creating music before his death, praising his wordplay and distinctive cadence and saying he had been working on material she considered special.

Wacko's national profile may have been tied most closely to one record. But the history of that record gives him a larger role than the shorthand of “UTP member” suggests.

Years before there was any reason to argue about Wacko's legacy, Juvenile had already made the most important point about the song.

It was, he said, “more like Wacko's song.”

Kehlani Says Hospital Visit Forced Two Tour Postponements

Kehlani appears in a promotional image released in connection with the singer’s 2024 single “After Hours.” Kehlani postponed two stops on the Kehlani World Tour this week after a hospital visit and said they were not medically cleared to sing. (Courtesy Warner Music/Atlantic Records)

Kehlani has postponed two stops on the Kehlani World Tour after a sudden illness sent the R&B singer to the hospital.

Kehlani said Wednesday that they had felt normal during two days off before developing severe pain and difficulty swallowing overnight.

“I just left the hospital & am not cleared to sing for the next two shows,” Kehlani wrote on Instagram.

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The affected concerts were Wednesday at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, and Thursday at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Kehlani referred to the latter as the Washington, D.C., stop in the announcement.

Both concerts are now officially listed as postponed.

Ticketmaster says tickets for the Camden show will remain valid once a new date is announced. Merriweather Post Pavilion similarly says tickets for Thursday’s show will be honored when the concert is rescheduled.

Kehlani said the tour is expected to resume in Virginia. The next scheduled performance remains Saturday at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront in Richmond, according to Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

No diagnosis or cause for the sudden symptoms has been announced.

The interruption comes during the North American leg of Kehlani’s world tour, which began earlier this month. The singer entered the tour as a two-time Grammy winner after “Folded” won best R&B performance and best R&B song at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Latimore, ‘Let’s Straighten It Out’ Singer and Blues Hall of Famer, Dies at 86

Latimore performs at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations festival in Nancy, France, on Oct. 22, 1983. The blues and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, best known for the 1974 hit “Let’s Straighten It Out,” died Aug. 22, 2026, at 86. (Lioneldecoster/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Latimore, the singer, songwriter and pianist whose conversational baritone turned a relationship talk into the 1974 R&B classic “Let’s Straighten It Out,” died Aug. 22 at 86.

Malaco Records, his longtime label, confirmed his death in a social-media statement.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Benjamin ‘Benny’ Latimore,” the Jackson, Mississippi-based label wrote, offering condolences to his family and loved ones.

A cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.

Born Benjamin William Lattimore in Charleston, Tennessee, Latimore grew up listening to gospel, blues and country music. He began playing his family’s piano as a child and sang his first solo in a Baptist church at 13, according to Malaco’s biography of the singer. He eventually moved to Miami and began recording for music entrepreneur Henry Stone’s Dade label before moving to Stone’s Glades imprint.

His version of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday” reached No. 27 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 1973. A year later came the record that would define his career.

Written by Latimore, “Let’s Straighten It Out” reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and crossed over to No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. He followed it with more R&B hits, including “Keep the Home Fire Burnin’” and “Somethin’ ’Bout ’Cha.”

Latimore signed with Malaco in 1982, beginning another substantial chapter of his career.

The move also placed him in the middle of an important shift in Black music. As major labels increasingly moved away from veteran soul performers, Malaco built a durable business recording artists whose audiences had not disappeared, including Z.Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton and Latimore.

Latimore remained active well beyond his 1970s chart run. He played piano on Joss Stone’s 2003 debut, The Soul Sessions, and her 2004 follow-up, Mind Body & Soul. In 2014, he sat in with the Roots on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

The Blues Foundation inducted Latimore into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017, recognizing a career that resisted an easy genre label.

Latimore himself put it more simply in a 2017 interview with Blues Blast Magazine.

“I can’t say that I’m a blues singer, but I’m a singer who can sing the blues.”

John Paris Awake Again as Earth, Wind & Fire Drummer Faces Two Major Surgeries

Earth, Wind & Fire drummer John Paris, left, poses with his wife, Honey Cone member Kathy Merrick, in an undated photo shared with a GoFundMe established to support the family during his hospitalization. Paris remains in intensive care after an Aug. 6 medical emergency and faces two major surgeries, according to the family-backed Standing for John Paris page. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

The musician remains in intensive care after an Aug. 6 medical emergency forced Earth, Wind & Fire’s San Francisco concert with Lionel Richie to be postponed.

John Paris is awake again.

But the Earth, Wind & Fire drummer remains in intensive care and faces two major surgeries as he recovers from the medical emergency that hospitalized him earlier this month, according to a new update from the family and friends who have been chronicling his condition.

The update was posted Thursday on the family-backed Facebook page Standing for John Paris, which has become the primary public source of information about his recovery.

Paris had briefly awakened earlier in his hospitalization before doctors needed to sedate him again.

His family says he has now awakened a second time, with more encouraging results. His blood pressure remained stable and his breathing stayed strong while doctors monitored and evaluated him.

Additional testing determined that Paris will need two major surgeries as part of his recovery. He will remain in the intensive care unit.

The family has not identified the procedures or publicly disclosed the underlying diagnosis that caused the Aug. 6 medical emergency.

“This journey is definitely a marathon, but JP is fighting every single day and our hope is strong,” his wife, singer Kathy Merrick, said in the family update.

The crisis began shortly before Earth, Wind & Fire was scheduled to perform with Richie at Chase Center in San Francisco.

The Aug. 6 concert was postponed because of what was initially described only as a medical emergency involving a member of Earth, Wind & Fire. Friends and relatives later identified Paris as the hospitalized musician.

A GoFundMe organized on behalf of Paris and Merrick says he experienced a “critical medical emergency” shortly before taking the stage and was rushed to a hospital.

That remains the most specific description of the initial episode provided by the family’s public sources.

Some reports have described the emergency as a heart attack or cardiac event, but Paris’ family has not publicly announced such a diagnosis. The Standing for John Paris updates have likewise not identified the underlying condition.

The family’s accounts instead have documented a difficult recovery with periods of both progress and setback.

Paris briefly regained consciousness earlier in his hospitalization, recognized people around him and asked for Merrick. Doctors later sedated him again after his blood pressure rose and he experienced difficulty breathing.

Earlier this week, his family reported another encouraging sign: Paris squeezed the hands of Merrick and their daughter, Kyla, as they spoke to him.

Now, after awakening again, he has remained stable enough for doctors to conduct further evaluations and determine the next stage of his treatment.

The seriousness of his condition has not changed.

Paris remains in intensive care, with two major surgeries ahead.

He has spent much of the past quarter-century behind the drums for one of the most enduring groups in R&B and funk.

Earth, Wind & Fire’s official website lists Paris as a current member on drums and vocals, alongside longtime members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson.

Paris became Earth, Wind & Fire’s drummer in 2001 after a career that had already included work with artists such as Patti LaBelle and Sheila E. An official artist biography from instrument maker Artesia also credits him as a drummer, arranger, singer and songwriter.

In January, only months before his hospitalization, NAMM recorded Paris for its Oral History program. NAMM described him as a drummer known for a powerful groove, versatility and an approach that balances precision with feel.

Music also connects many of the people now supporting Paris.

Merrick performs with the current lineup of Honey Cone, the soul vocal group whose catalog includes the 1971 hit “Want Ads.” The present trio features Merrick and Wendy Smith-Brune alongside original Honey Cone member Shelly Clark White.

Clark White is also married to Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White, making the two groups’ connection a personal one as well as a musical one. Honey Cone’s official biography says Merrick and Paris have frequently collaborated professionally.

The GoFundMe says Merrick and the couple’s daughter, Kyla, have remained near Paris during his hospitalization. Because the family lives in the Los Angeles area, the extended stay in San Francisco has brought additional travel, lodging and other expenses.

Clark White canceled Honey Cone’s remaining performances for at least the next couple of months so Merrick could remain with her husband, according to the fundraiser.

Clark White, Smith-Brune and longtime family friend Tazz Cole helped establish the campaign.

Earth, Wind & Fire, meanwhile, is scheduled to return to the road in September.

The band’s official calendar currently lists its next performance for Sept. 4 in Vancouver, followed by a series of West Coast dates. The postponed San Francisco concert with Richie has been rescheduled for Sept. 26 at Chase Center.

No timetable has been announced for Paris’ return to the stage.

Kurupt Reveals Eminem Stepped In to Pay for His Rehab

West Coast rap veteran Kurupt is opening up about a private act of generosity from one of hip-hop’s biggest superstars that helped save his life.

​In a newly published interview, the former Death Row Records artist and Tha Dogg Pound member revealed that Eminem quietly paid the full cost of his medical rehabilitation treatment following a severe struggle with alcohol addiction.

 

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Speaking on SiriusXM’s "Sway in the Morning," Kurupt, born Ricardo Brown, detailed how his addiction led to multiple seizures and a three-week medically induced coma. While recovering from the life-threatening ordeal, he received unexpected outreach from two iconic architects of hip-hop.

​The 53-year-old rapper explained that Dr. Dre initially reached out to offer moral support and guidance.

​"It was Dr. Dre that called and was just giving his support and just let me know that, you know, we all go through these things," Kurupt told the radio hosts. "He was just giving me that game."

​That phone call quickly opened the door for direct financial and logistical help from Eminem. According to Kurupt, the Detroit rapper arranged treatment through his own trusted contacts and covered the entire expense to ensure the rehabilitation remained entirely private.

​"And it was Em who came to the table like, 'I'm gonna put Kurupt with my folks, and I'm going to put some money into getting him into like, a rehab situation to where he can sit down and enjoy [himself] and be out the way. Nobody will know he's there,'" Kurupt recalled.

​"You know, these things cost bread, so Em put the cheese up for it and said, 'Tell Kurupt I love him,'" the rapper added. "Dr. Dre relayed the message, and then he put me with Em's folks."

​The revelation underscores a long-standing, quiet brotherhood between 1990s and 2000s rap legends. Eminem famously listed Kurupt among his favorite MCs of all time on his 2002 track "Till I Collapse". Furthermore, Eminem has been highly transparent about his own past struggles with prescription pill addiction and a near-fatal overdose, treating his hard-won sobriety as a point of pride.

​For Kurupt, whose 1990s dominance was anchored by legendary West Coast releases like Dr. Dre's 1992 album "The Chronic" and his own 1998 solo debut "Kuruption!", the unexpected gesture left a lasting mark.

​"So, you know, that was real special to me," he said. "I appreciate both of them so much. And it's like, damn, you know? He just came out the blue from nowhere. Like, 'OK, Kurupt going through that? Bam. Boom. I'ma do that for him, man. Tell Kurupt get well, we love him.' That's deep."

Thousands Sent Home as Earth, Wind & Fire Show is Postponed Over Medical Emergency

Earth, Wind & Fire appear in a promotional photo. The R&B and funk group postponed its Aug. 6 concert with Lionel Richie at San Francisco's Chase Center minutes before showtime after a medical emergency involving a band member. The affected member has not been publicly identified. (Jabari Jacobs/Live Nation)

A medical emergency involving a member of Earth, Wind & Fire forced the legendary group to postpone
its San Francisco concert with Lionel Richie just minutes before showtime Thursday night.

The band and Chase Center announced the postponement shortly after 7:20 p.m., about 10 minutes before the scheduled 7:30 p.m. start. Thousands of concertgoers who were already inside the arena or waiting outside were directed to leave, according to local reports.

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“We are unable to perform as scheduled tonight at Chase Center in San Francisco due to a medical emergency involving a member of our band,” Earth, Wind & Fire said in a statement posted to social media.

The group has not identified the member or publicly disclosed the nature of the medical problem.

The San Francisco Fire Department received a medical call at Chase Center at approximately 5:30 p.m., spokesperson Capt. Mariano Elias told the San Francisco Chronicle. One person was taken to a hospital by private ambulance. Elias did not identify the patient or tell the newspaper what prompted the emergency response.

TMZ reported Friday morning that Elias separately described the call to the outlet as a “cardiac incident” and said the patient was transported in critical condition.

Neither Earth, Wind & Fire nor its representatives had confirmed those additional details as of Friday morning, and the identity of the patient remained undisclosed. The band's representatives referred TMZ to Earth, Wind & Fire's original statement.

ABC7 in San Francisco also reported Friday morning that officials had not released the affected band member's identity or current condition.

The abrupt postponement came as Earth, Wind & Fire and Richie near the end of their 26-city “Sing a Song All Night Long” North American tour.

According to Earth, Wind & Fire's official tour announcement, the Live Nation-produced run began June 24 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 14 at Moody Center in Austin.

The tour's next scheduled performance is Saturday at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, followed Sunday by a show at Intuit Dome in Inglewood. As of Friday morning, those dates remained listed on the official tour schedule, and no further postponements had been announced.

The San Francisco show will be rescheduled, the band said. Ticketholders were told to keep their tickets, which will be honored on the new date. Refunds will also be available through the original point of purchase.

“We sincerely apologize for the unexpected change and appreciate everyone’s understanding,” the group said.

The health scare follows an earlier interruption of the same tour involving Richie. During the June 24 opener in Saint Paul, Richie became dizzy during his performance and later postponed two dates before returning to the tour June 30 in Pittsburgh.

Earth, Wind & Fire remains anchored by longtime members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. The group, founded by the late Maurice White in Chicago, has remained one of R&B and funk's most enduring touring acts more than five decades after its breakthrough.

Earth, Wind & Fire has won six Grammy Awards from 18 nominations and received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Its catalog includes “Shining Star,” “September,” “Reasons,” “After the Love Has Gone” and “Let's Groove.” The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and became the first Black group to receive Kennedy Center Honors in 2019.

No new information about the affected band member had been released publicly as of Friday morning.

Plas Johnson, Saxophonist Who Gave ‘The Pink Panther Theme’ Its Voice, Dies at 94

The cover of Plas Johnson’s Capitol Records album “Mood for the Blues.” Johnson, whose tenor saxophone gave Henry Mancini’s “The Pink Panther Theme” its unmistakable sound, died July 15 at 94. (Courtesy Photo: Capitol Records)

Most people heard Plas Johnson long before they knew his name.

His tenor saxophone slides into Henry Mancini’s “The Pink Panther Theme” with a low, bluesy prowl, giving the animated cat in the film’s opening credits its cool, its mischief and its unmistakable strut.

The melody became part of popular culture. The musician behind it spent much of his career outside the spotlight.

Johnson died July 15 at his Los Angeles home, his children, Eric Johnson and Stephanie Oliver, told The New York Times. He was 94. A cause of death was not announced.

He died six days before his 95th birthday. His children said he had performed at his retirement community about a month earlier.

“The Pink Panther Theme” was Johnson’s most famous performance, but it accounted for less than three minutes in a recording career that crossed jump blues, jazz, R&B, soul, rock, pop, television and film.

His saxophone appeared on recordings by the Platters, Larry Williams, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Dr. John, the Beach Boys and scores of others. He played tenor on the Platters’ “The Great Pretender” and piccolo on Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin.”

 

Johnson was part of a generation of Black studio musicians whose work moved across genres more freely than the music industry’s marketing categories did.

A record might be sold as pop, rock, easy listening or a Hollywood soundtrack. Johnson brought to it the phrasing he had developed in Louisiana dance halls, blues bands, jazz clubs and Los Angeles recording rooms.

Other musicians knew what his name meant.

Louisiana arranger and producer Harold Battiste recalled that when producers could not hire Johnson, they looked for someone who sounded like him. Harmonica player and producer Bob Corritore remembered him after his death as a “musician’s musician.”

Mancini did not want an imitation.

He composed “The Pink Panther Theme” with Johnson’s tenor in mind after watching David Niven play the sophisticated jewel thief at the center of Blake Edwards’ comedy.

“Plas has the sound and the style I wanted,” Mancini wrote in his autobiography.

The theme was recorded in 1963 for the film, which opened in the United States in 1964. Johnson played during the introduction, returned for the central solo and closed the piece.

He later recalled that the arrangement felt special from the first run-through. When the musicians finished, the string section joined the rest of the room in applauding — an unusual response during a professional studio session.

Mancini’s music from “The Pink Panther” won three Grammy Awards, while the score received an Academy Award nomination. The American Film Institute later ranked it No. 20 on its list of the 25 greatest American film scores.

Johnson’s identity remained less familiar than the solo.

He sometimes met listeners who told him that his performance sounded exactly like the musician heard in the movie. Johnson would explain that they were listening to the same man.

He returned to the theme decades later, rerecording it for the 2004 tribute album “Ultimate Mancini” and the 2006 remake of “The Pink Panther” starring Steve Martin.

Johnson was born July 21, 1931, in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and grew up in a family of professional musicians. His mother played piano, while his father played saxophone and banjo.

The family later moved to Thibodaux and then New Orleans. Johnson began as a singer before his father gave him a soprano saxophone. He switched to tenor at 15 and formed the Johnson Brothers Combo with his older brother, pianist Ray Johnson.

The brothers played dances around the New Orleans area, mixing the popular music of Louis Jordan, Dinah Washington and Charles Brown with the bebop of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

The crowd did not always ask for bebop. The brothers played it anyway.

In 1951, singer and pianist Charles Brown heard Johnson perform at the Dew Drop Café in New Orleans and hired him. The job lasted about six months before Johnson was drafted into the Army, where he continued playing in a military band.

Johnson moved to Los Angeles with his siblings in 1954. Jam sessions led to recording dates, and his blues-touched sound proved valuable as rock and roll expanded the market for musicians who could combine Black musical language with the precision demanded by commercial studios.

A session with Johnny Otis brought him to the attention of Capitol Records executive Dave Cavanaugh. Johnson soon found himself recording behind Cole, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and other major stars.

He could bring personality to a record without crowding the singer or arrangement.

“You just have to know when to start and when to stop,” Johnson said in a 2005 interview.

That judgment kept him working through decades of changes in recording technology and popular taste.

Johnson remained active in jazz while handling commercial studio work. He released albums under his own name, including “This Must Be the Plas!” and “Mood for the Blues,” and maintained a long association with trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison.

In 1970, he joined the studio band for “The Merv Griffin Show,” beginning a 15-year run that placed a working jazz ensemble inside a five-day-a-week television production. He continued accepting outside recording dates during the show’s run.

Johnson later appeared in Denny Tedesco’s documentary “The Wrecking Crew,” which brought wider attention to the Los Angeles session musicians behind generations of familiar records. The film also featured New Orleans drummer Earl Palmer, with whom Johnson had worked frequently.

By then, Johnson had spent more than half a century demonstrating how much identity a musician could fit into an introduction, a background fill or a few measures between a singer’s lines.