Tame One, who was born as Rahem Brown and best known for his successes with The Weathermen, Artifacts and Leak Bros, among others, died over the weekend due to heart failure.
Darlene Brown, the mother of the rapper, revealed the sad news on Facebook.
"What's on my mind...I can't express this any other way. My son Rahem Brown, Tamer Dizzle Is Dead," she posted on Sunday. "The medical examiner says the six pharmaceutical drugs prescribed to him last Friday, combined with the weed he smoked over the weekend...his heart simply gave out."
A Great Hip-Hop Figure and Graffiti Artist
Tame One was revered in the community as a great hip-hop figure and graffiti artist. He grew up in New Jersey and was inclined towards graffiti as an art form. "It's a mental release," he said about the art form. "I've been drawing all my life, so that just comes naturally. I'm keeping it as real as I possibly can with myself and with my music and I guess people relate."
In 1988, he founded Artifacts with El da Sensei and DJ Kaos. They released two studio albums with Big Beat and Atlantic. Their breakout singles Wrong Side of da Tracks and C'Mon With da Git Down brought them into the center of the underground hip-hop scene. Tame One's album with El da Sensi Between a Rock and a Hard Place in 1994 received acclaim and broke the two artists into the mainstream. It appeared on Bilboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop albums charts.
Tame One took to a solo career in the 2000s and released his debut album When Rappers Attack in 2003. The 52-year-old collaborated with other projects including the 2006 Slow Suicide Stimulus with Dusted Dons and Parallel Uni-Verses with Del the Funky Homosapien in 2009.
Tributes Pour In
The hip-hop industry is mourning the loss of one of their beloved members. "I don't even know what to say," El-P posted on Instagram. "Rest in peace to Tame One. The Artifact, the Weathermen crew member, the leak brother, the legend, and undoubtedly the friend and family of many broken hearted people."
Fans also took to Twitter to share their love for the rapper. Jen's Fortress tweeted that Tame One is the first celebrity death to make him go "ah man" out loud. "Always loved his razor sharp '00s-underground lyrical showcase over a J-Zone beat that's even more bugged out than usual." Another fan shared that Tame One quickly jumped up to his top 5 rappers ever. "And while every death in hip-hop has some effect on me, this one really hurt my heart. I hope that we all can reflect on him and greatness."
