Chris Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris
Kross who made one of the decade's most memorable songs with the frenetic “Jump”,
has died, according to authorities. He was 34.
Investigator Betty Honey of the Fulton County
Medical Examiner's office said the 34-year-old Kelly was pronounced dead around
5 p.m. Wednesday at the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center.
Honey said authorities are unsure of Kelly's cause
of death and that an autopsy has yet to be performed.
Kelly, known as "Mac Daddy," and Chris
Smith, known as "Daddy Mac," were introduced to the music world in
1992 by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri after he discovered the pair
in an Atlanta mall. The duo wore their clothes backwards as a gimmick, but they
won over fans with their raps.
Their first and by far most successful song was
Jump. The hit, off their multiplatinum 1992 debut album “Totally Krossed Out”,
featured the two trading verses and rapping the refrain, the song's title. The
duo had surprising maturity in their rap delivery, though the song was written
by Dupri. It would become a No. 1 smash in the United States and globally, and
one of the most popular songs of that year.
Their success led to instant fame: They toured with
Michael Jackson, appeared on TV shows, and even had their own video game.
The group was never able to match the tremendous
success of their first song, though they had other hits like “Warm It Up” and “Tonite's
tha Night”.
Earlier this year around February, the group
performed together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Durpri's
label, “So So Def”.
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