Force MDs Jessie D Dead at 57

Photo Credit @jessieleedaniels Instagram

Jessie Lee Daniels, a founding member of the Force MDs, has passed away at the age of 57.

The death of Daniels, aka Jessie D, was announced late Tuesday on the pioneering hip-hop and R&B group’s official Facebook page.

“He ate, sleep [sic] and breathe music everyday,” the post read.

“Please put a heart up for him. He was loved!!!!!!!!!! To the family, friends and fans today we lost a real talent. Our condolences goes out to his siblings, kids and the Force MDs."

Formed in Staten Island, New York, the family group rose to fame in the early 1980s propelled by their unique combination of doo-wop and acapella sung over hip-hop beats that became the foundation of the New Jack Swing movement.

Originally named the Fantastic L.D.s, before switching to Force MCs and eventually settling on Force MDs, which stood for musical diversity, the group was comprised of brothers Stevie D., Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy, and Rodney “Khalil” Lundy, along with their uncle Daniels. In later years their friends Trisco Pearson and Charles “Mercury” Nelson from the Mariners Harbor projects on Staten Island joined the group.

The Force MDs were best known for their hits “Love is a House,” “Itchin’ For a Scratch” and “Tender Love.” Daniels sang lead vocals for the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-penned “Tender Love” which reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was featured on the soundtrack of the groundbreaking hip-hop movie “Krush Groove” in 1985.

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The group which released six studio albums together, the last being “The Reunion” in 2000, has had its music live on in part because of heavy sampling by other artists.

"Tender Love" was sampled in the 1996 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony hit "Days of Our Livez", and Alicia Keys, The Backstreet Boys, Kelly Rowland, Marques Houston and Marsha Ambrosius are among those who have made covers of the song.

The group also lent its vocals to several tracks on Ghostface Killah’s iconic solo debut ‘Ironman" in 1996.

Daniels is the fifth member of the group, which former President Barack Obama revealed was on his Air Force One iPod playlist in a 2009 interview, to pass.

Charles “Mercury” Nelson died from a heart attack in 1995. Antoine “T.C.D.” Lundy died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1998, and Trisco Pearson died of cancer in 2016. DJ Dr. Rock, one of the group's former DJs, passed away in 1996 from natural causes.

George Floyd’s Niece, 4, Shot While Sleeping in Houston Home on New Year's Day

Photo Credit: Floyd Family Handout 

George Floyd’s four-year-old great-niece is in stable condition after surviving a New Year’s Day gun attack on her family home.

Arianna Delane, the daughter of his niece, Bianca Williams, whose mother is George's sister, LaTonya — was hit in the torso when a hail of bullets was unleashed into her Houston apartment at around 2:50 a.m. Saturday.

Delane, who was one of four adults and two children at the home when the shooting occurred, was hit in the torso. Her father, Derrick Delane, told Houston’s ABC 13 that his daughter was asleep in the bed when she was shot.

This is 4-year-old Arianna. She was front and center at the marches and rallies in her Uncle George Floyd’s case.

On Saturday around 3 a.m., her father tells me she was asleep in her bed when someone fired several shots at their apartment. Arianna was hit in her torso. pic.twitter.com/Cpo1oFwase

— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) January 4, 2022

“My daughter jumped up and said she had been hit,” said Delane of Arianna, who suffered from a punctured liver, lung, and had several broken ribs because of the shooting. “I [saw] the blood, the bleeding, and I grabbed her.”

Arianna, along with her family, was front-and-center at several rallies and marches to call for justice for her uncle’s death. Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds in May 2020, was convicted of murder in June 2021 and sentenced to over 20 years in prison.

The Houston Police Department said in a statement that there is no suspect description or motive in the shooting.

“The investigation into the senseless shooting of the 4-year-old female at 3322 Yellowstone Boulevard on Saturday morning (January 1) continues to move forward,” HPD Chief Troy Finner said. “I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs Investigation. I ask the city to continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible.”

Traxamillion, Producer Who Helped Popularize Bay Area's Hyphy Sound, Dead at 42

Courtesy Prashant “PK” Kumar

Traxamillion, a prolific hip-hop producer and one of the pioneers of the Bay Area's hyphy hip-hop movement, is dead at 42.

According to his manager, Prashant “PK” Kumar, the artist, born Sultan Banks, died Sunday at his aunt's house in Santa Clara, California, where he was on hospice — ending a long battle with a rare form of cancer that began for him in 2017.

“He was an amazing musician/producer,” Kumar told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He was an integral part of the hyphy music sound who helped reopen the door for Bay Area hip-hop. He did it in 2004 or 2005, and the rest of California got on it and adapted his sound.”

Born in East Orange, New Jersey, and raised in San Jose, California, where he attended Andrew Hill High School in San Jose before moving on to San Jose City College to further his education; Banks was a force both behind-the-scenes and behind the mic in helping popularize hyphy music. 

Rest In Peace @traxamillion 🙏🕊️ The San Jose producer who helped create the "Hyphy" sound passed away today. This is a huge loss for Northern California 💔 We send our condolences to his family & loved ones. #RIPTraxamillion pic.twitter.com/I3k4NsUq5M

— Thizzler On The Roof (@TheThizzler) January 2, 2022

His production work with Oakland, California, rapper Keak da Sneak, who coined the term hyphy was its self-proclaimed king, on songs like "Super Hyphy" helped shape the genre's sound in the mid-2000s. While his biggest project, a compilation album released in 2006 featuring Banks and an all-star squad of hyphy rappers flowing over his beats, “Traxamillion Presents the Slapp Addict,” remains iconic in the Bay.

“That album is often referred to as the soundtrack of the hyphy movement,” Kumar said.

Banks, also worked with other prominent Bay Area rappers, including mainstream music icons, Too Short and E-40, the latter of whom shared a heartfelt tribute to him on Instagram following the news of his death.

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