R.I.P. - MC Breed

I can’t really say much in requiem for MC Breed. Other than he is the portal for my exploration into Dayton Street Funk ™ and the guy I was listening to when I was trying to work-out and fix my yellow Batavus moped simultaneously, resulting in near death (carbon monoxide inhalation) next to the lizard from Florida in the garage on Walnut. That’s how you kill yourself? Well, MC Breed and the DFC did “No Future in Yo’ Frontin’” and I suppose the proximity to Flint, Michigan allowed such cassettes to trickle down to the north Dayton Record and Tape Outlet (caddied to Cub Foods), it was exactly what a 7th grade rap-fiend in Troy, Ohio wanted to hear from his musical heroes -- the perfect mix of East and West, I was, by then, fed up with feuds and looking for something a bit different than the standard Kool Moe Dee vs. LL Cool J battle. Like I said, I couldn’t name another MC Breed cut to save my life, but in retrospect he had a fruitful, middling, career – eventually situating himself as a Dirty South garbler in Atlanta. I’m not exactly sure of the timing here, but from my perspective he was one of the first to use Zapp and Roger samples as template, and for that I, and the rest of the rap community are indebted to that early ingenuity. Here are the details, via Tiny Mix Tapes.

Rapper MC Breed, who became famous for his sing-along collaboration with Tupac, “Gotta Get Mine” and "Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin,’” has died today [November 22]. He was 36.

Born Eric Breed, the Flint, Michigan rapper was found dead at a friend’s house in Ypsilanti Michigan, the Detroit News reports. His manager, Darryl Morris, confirmed his death, but the exact cause is still pending.
In September, Breed collapsed while playing basketball in his stomping ground of Atlanta, and was placed on life support for kidney failure. Friends got together to throw a benefit concert to raise money for his medical bills, but cancelled plans after his health bounced back.

Never fully reaching mainstream status, Breed rhymed proudly about the desolate town of Flint, an urban area usually masked under the wide belly of Detroit. His hit 1991 song, "Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin’” sampled Zapp’s "More Bounce to the Ounce" and the Ohio Players’ "Funky Worm.” On “Gotta Get Mine” off his 1993 album The New Breed, he hooked up with a young, thirsty Tupac, and spit the famous line, “They hate to see a young nigga, come up.”

Breed’s career spans 20-years, and 13 albums.