Kangol Kid has passed away after a battle with stage 4 colon cancer. Veteran New York promoter Van Silk (who is undergoing treatment for the same cancer) confirmed the news to HipHopDX.
“RIP KANGOL KID. He passed at 3:02 a.m. My prayers go out to my brother who fought a battle of colon cancer at Stage 4,” he wrote. “Early on, we discussed our fight with this disease because my fight with colon cancer is stage 2. He told me it had spread in October. I encourage all to get your prostate and colon checked. May my brother Kangol Rest In Heaven.”
The UTFO rapper was diagnosed with cancer just 10 months ago. He was 55 years old.
Kangol Kid, born Shaun Fequiere, is credited as being one of the first Haitian-American hip hop stars. He began his career in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York as a B-Boy with dance partner Doctor Ice and appeared in fellow New York crew Whodini’s “Freaks Come Out At Night” music video.
He formed UTFO in 1983 with Doctor Ice, Mix Master Ice and Educated Rapper, who died in June 2017.
The outfit released its breakout song “Roxanne Roxanne” in 1984, which spawned one of the best diss tracks of all time, “Roxanne’s Revenge” by Roxanne Shanté. UTFO went on to release four Top 200-charting LPs throughout the 1980s: their 1985 self-titled debut, Skeezer Pleezer, Lethal and Doin’ It!.
