Malik B, An Original Member Of The Roots, Dies At 47: Report
Malik B, a former and founding member of The Roots, has reportedly died.
Via Twitter, Don Champion, Malik’s cousin, confirmed the news Wednesday morning (July 29).
“Mourning my beloved cousin today,” he wrote. “He was so talented and had a huge heart. I still remember when he and The Roots were starting out. He’d give me and my dad their cassette tapes to listen to. I miss you already, Mailk. #RIP."
A cause of death isn’t publicly known as of Wednesday afternoon.
Born Malik Abdul Basit, the Philly native joined The Roots crew during the late 1980s alongside other co-founders Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and appeared on the group’s first four albums, including 1993’s Organix, 1995’s Do You Want More?!!!??!, 1996’s Illadelph Halflife and Things Fall Apart from 1999.
While he left the group during the late 90s, Malik returned years later to appear on projects like Rising Down (2008) and released his own solo work, including 2006’s Psychological EP and studio albums Street Assault (2005) and Unpredictable with Mr. Green (2015)
Tributes have begun pouring in for Malik B. See what the Hip Hop world had to say below.
