Biz Markie on Kensington High Street, London, in 1988. Photo: David Corio/Redferns The Clown Prince of Hip-Hop. The Inhuman Orchestra. Bizzy B Markie. The world knew him best as Biz Markie, but the man born Marcel Theo Hall had many nicknames, befitting a performer bestowed with oversize talent and an even bigger personality behind his skill. When the New York rap pioneer departed on July 16 at age 57, following complications from Type 2 diabetes, the gut punch hit hard and fast.
Photo: Courtesy of Diamond Shell He came to us through adoption in 1972. [I remember] we got a call, and my mother said, “You’re gonna have a new brother.” My mother did foster care, and he was our first foster kid. She said, “When we get home, he’ll be there, and I want you to make him feel welcome.” Biz was 8 years old, and I was only 5, so I was nervous. I remember walking in the door and seeing him for the first time.
Shell: I remember the first time he beatboxed. This was junior high school. We used to sit around hamboning, which was a [dance] rhythm thing we did. One day, Biz just started beatboxing at 11 years old and never stopped. There were cliques and crews in our neighborhood, and if you didn’t have a certain look, you were outcast. This is where the song “Vapors” came from because you got totally ignored if you didn’t fit into those cliques.
Biz had so much jewelry that he’d let his crew wear it, like big ropes. On certain occasions, he’d want all his jewelry and would yell, “Truck me up! Truck me up!” That meant everyone had to take their jewelry off and put it all on Biz. When it came to the ladies, Biz Mark was an oddity. He was like Flavor Flav or Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and it took a special girl to wanna get with Biz Markie. He wasn’t so much a ladies’ man, but if a lady came in his area, he knew what to do and what to say.
John Leguizamo, actor and director: I was in my apartment in Queens when I first heard Biz. Jackson Heights, on the fourth floor, in one of the project buildings we lived in. It was the late ’80s, and I can’t remember if it was Rap City, The Box, or Yo! MTV Raps, but I used to live by those shows. It was the “Just a Friend” video, and I thought, Oh my God! This is so fucking fun! The fun of hip-hop in those days was so beautiful.
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