Biz Markie dies

Why it matters

Biz Markie's death made the New York Times the same day, July 16, 2021. The obituary headline called him the "Clown Prince of Hip-Hop," which is the title he held quietly for thirty-five years. The thing about clown princes is they often turn out to have been the most technically gifted people in the room. Marley Marl, who produced most of Biz's late-80s catalog and who knew the room better than almost anybody, has said in interviews that Biz had the best human-beatbox skill of any rapper of the era, including Doug E. Fresh. Biz could imitate horns. Biz could imitate guitars. Biz could imitate a record skipping. He used to perform thirty-minute beatbox sets between rap songs, just because he could. Most of the time the funny stuff overshadowed the technical stuff. That is what makes him a clown prince and not just a clown. You can put on "Make the Music with Your Mouth, Biz" right now and hear what I mean.