He collapsed while performing at Hampden Town Center Park on Friday evening, the town’s chief of staff said.
advertisementFatman Scoop, the American rapper who topped the European charts 20 years ago with Be Faithful and later contributed to other artists’ hits, has died.
He died Saturday after collapsing onstage during a show in Connecticut on Friday, according to officials and his family. He was 53. The cause of his death was not immediately clear.
The American rapper collapsed while performing at Hampden Town Center Park on Friday evening, city Chief of Staff Shawn Grace said.
Mayor Lauren Garrett confirmed the incident in Connecticut on Facebook, saying the emergency occurred as concertgoers and paramedics attempted to help the artist, who was taken to the hospital.
“The world has lost a brilliant soul, a beacon on stage and in life,” Scoop’s family wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
While the world knows him as an artist who moved clubgoers, his family cherished him as “the laughing stock of our lives, a constant source of support, and a constant source of strength and courage,” his relatives wrote.
“His music made us dance and embrace life in a positive way. His joy was infectious and the generosity he gave to all will be deeply missed but never forgotten,” they added.
Fatman Scoop, whose real name is Isaac Freeman III, is from Harlem, New York and made his debut in 1999 with the album Be Faithful.
After beginning as a minor success in the United States, the song was re-released in Europe in 2003, reaching number one on the singles charts in the UK and Ireland.
The following year, he appeared in the British TV series Chancers, in which musicians mentored artists looking to make it in America, the BBC reported.
He was also a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother 16: UK vs USA, which was filmed and aired in the UK in 2015.
However, Scoop, sometimes stylized as Fat Man Scoop or FatMan Scoop, is perhaps best known for his feature on Missy Elliott’s Lose Control, a summer anthem from 2005 that also featured Ciara. The track won a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 2006 ceremony.
In the same year as Lose Control, he was featured on Mariah Carey’s It’s Like That. He has also appeared on tracks by artists like Timbaland, David Guetta, The Situation, and Skrillex. In 2018, he reunited with Elliott and Ciara to work on the latter’s Level Up remix.
Elliott praised Scoop’s “voice and energy” on Saturday’s X, saying he’s contributed to many songs that have made people happy for over 20 years.
“Your influence is enormous and will never be forgotten,” she added.
advertisementHis longtime booking agency, MN2S, describes him as an artist with “limitless passion,” a passion for music, and a voice and personality that “has left an indelible mark on the industry.”
Sharon Elkabas, president of MN2S, said in a statement released Saturday that she spoke with him a few days ago.
“He felt really good. I can’t believe he’s no longer with us,” she said.
