Funky 4 + 1 founding member Keith Keith left an imprint on Hip-Hop that’ll never fade after the Bronx lost one of its original architects when he passed on August 21.

Associates of the MC who introduced himself as “the women pleaser,” revealed he died from unknown causes as of press time.

In the late 1970s, Funky 4 + 1 helped build something that changed music forever, and now the culture’s mourning the loss of a true pioneer.

Funky 4 + 1 wasn’t just another group trying to make noise in the South Bronx. They were the first Hip-Hop crew ever to take the national television stage, performing “That’s The Joint” on Saturday Night Live on Valentine’s Day 1981, introduced by Debbie Harry herself.

Keith Keith stood alongside Sha Rock, K.K. Rockwell, Jazzy Jeff, Lil Rodney C, DJ Breakout, and DJ Baron, and together they proved that rap belonged on the biggest platforms in America.

The group formed back in 1978 when the disco era was dying, and something new was being born in the streets.

What made Funky 4 + 1 different was that they had Sha Rock, the first female MC to ever rock a national audience, and they weren’t afraid to let her shine.

They released records commercially when most rappers were still just party performers, and they set the template for how groups could work together without losing their individual flavor.

The legacy of early Hip-Hop pioneers lives through the records they made and the doors they opened for everyone who came after.