Rapper Fatman Scoop has passed away aged 53 after suffering a medical emergency on stage on Friday.
The artist, real name Issac Freeman III, collapsed on stage in Hamden Town Center Park, Connecticut, and was rushed to hospital.
Screams rang out at his final show as the famous hype man was seen struggling as he climbed onto a platform before disappearing from view, as medics raced to revive him.
His tour manager announced his passing on Saturday, saying he was ‘lost for words.’
Freeman’s manager, DJ and producer Birch Michael, announced the rapper’s death ‘with the heaviest of hearts’ in posts to social media on Saturday morning.
‘You took me all over the world and had me performing alongside you on some of the biggest and greatest stages on this planet, the things you taught me have truly made me the man I am today,’ Michael said.
A three-time Grammy Award winner, in recent years Fatman Scoop ventured into podcasting and reality TV, including appearing on Channel 5 ‘s Celebrity Big Brother: UK vs USA.
Tributes quickly poured in for the artist as news of his death was shared, with UK’s Reminisce Festival – where he was set for perform on September 7 – sharing that his ‘absence will be profoundly felt by everyone.’
‘He was not just one of our most popular performers, he was a cherished member of the Reminisce family,’ the festival said.
‘If you came to party,’ the rapper said, before taking a long pause. He then appeared to bend forward. ‘Make some noise,’ he added, his words slurred.
As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed onto the ground, dropping the microphone.
Across the audience, screams of horror and gasps of fear were heard, while the rapper’s fellow artists tried to calm the crowd.
‘We’re having a good time,’ one of them said, as another again asked for the crowd to ‘make some noise’ – which was met with a far more muted response than moments earlier.
Around 8:33pm, authorities were dispatched to the scene. They wheeled the rapper out from venue on a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital.
Hamden Mayor Lauren Garett said following the incident that Scoop was undergoing emergency care and asked fans to ‘keep him in your thoughts and prayers.’
