Can't find this posted anywhere else on the org ....

UK Rapper Derek B died yesterday at the age of 44, he was one of the first artists I remember sampling Prince, he used the 'Oh Yeah' from SOTT on his 1988 hit 'Bad Young Brother'.

The song you mentioned was the only one I ever knew of him, but apparently he was much better known in the UK. Too bad to hear of his death.

RIP

never heard of him tho

Lammastide said:

Yep, he was one of the first homegrown rappers to make it on the scene over here in the UK, before that it was the US rappers like RUN DMC, Public Enemy, NWA etc who were more well known, it was quite a mainstream rap so made it in the charts which was rare for a rap track at the time, he also co-wrote the anfield rap, which is a well known track for Liverpool football club in the late 80's.

I mentioned it here as its the first time I can remember Prince being sampled on a track, it was part of the hook of the bad young brother song, so was fairly distinctive, didn't hear much of him after that song, but sad to hear of his passing.

Bad Young Brother onm TOTP :

http://www.youtube.com/wa...bBMZanI4ec
[Edited 11/17/09 2:56am]

I really liked his debut album, there were some strong songs on it and he thanked Prince for inspiration in the liner notes.His sound was very commercial but I must admit he paved the way and opened the doors for many underground acts such as Hijack, Gunshot or even Blade and Son of Noise by putting UK Rap on the map. If it wasn´t for him and people like MC Duke and the WeePapa Girl Rappers, then UK Rap would still be very unknown outside of the UK but Derek B´s commercial success really helped the UK scene a lot even though some people thought he sold out.
Wasn´t he married to an ex MTV VJ?
By the way, there were rumors that Derek B had dies almost 15 years ago here.They said he died in a car accident with his Porsche. So, for the last 15 years, I thought he was already dead.

May he rest in peace.