Stezo, Hip-hop Artist and Producer, Dies at 51

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Stezo, Hip-hop Artist and Producer, Dies at 51

Hip-hop artist and producer Stezo died at the age of 51, his producer Chris Lowe confirmed on Twitter. At the time this post published, the cause of death remains unknown.

Born Steve Williams, Stezo first appeared on the hip-hop scene as a dancer for EMPD and appeared in tehir video for “You Gots to Chill,” off their 1988 record, Strictly Business. He eventually dropped his debut album, Crazy Noise in 1989, which peaked at number 73 on the Billboard U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. He also dropped Where’s the Funk At in 1997 and C.T. (The Lost State) in 2005.

Questlove broke the news of Stezo’s passing last night (April 29). See his dedication below.

 

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This is gonna happen a lot. Before Hammer’s pants, there was #Stezo…before we all abused that #SkullSnaps #ItsANewDay break…there was Stezo. Before #AtomicDog fed an ENTIRE GENRE….there was Stezo. While your favorite rapper was asking so & so & such & such to do some beats for em….Stezo was doing it all himself. I mean for gods sake this man made #SteveMartin cool to a hip hop generation too young to get King Tut/The Jerk/& a wild & crazy guy references—-he turned Steve Martin into the coolest verb EVER in 1988 (google #EPMD’s #YouGotsToChill video to see dances that defined a generation—-we talk about MCs/producers/videos/movies/icons from 87-92 but rarely give light to the iconic dances that came from that era—Stezo was always my fav dancer from this era (yes I know the Kid N Play dance was iconic too) but when you don’t have a partner to kick it with? Then yknow…lol——this dude is displaying ALL the moves that others will build empires on. Damn this damn virus man. Damn. Thank you @stezodezo

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Other members of the hip-hop community followed including El-P, DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Stretch Armstrong.

 

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WOW!! R.I.P. STEZO 😣😔 SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO WOW 😖

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Watch Stezo discuss Crazy Noise below:

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