‘DJ Mark The 45 King’ Dies: Producer Of Jay-Z’s ‘The Hard Knock Life’ And Eminem’s ‘Stan’ Was 62
deadline.comMark Howard James, the producer known as “DJ Mark The 45 King” who worked with such rap hitmakers as Queen Latifah, Jay-Z, and Eminem among many others, has died at 62.
His manager confirmed the death, but provided no further details. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., James started producing in the mid-1980s as hip-hop became a cultural force He produced Queen Latifah’s debut album All Hail the Queen in the late ’80s, then was behind the board for such rap classics such as Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) and Stan by Eminem .
He earned his professional name by culling bits from obscure 45 singles His breakout track, The 900 Number, was released in 1987, and featured a prominent saxophone snippet from Marva Whitney’s 1968 song, Unwind Yourself.
The song has been sampled and remixed by artists including DJ Kool, Public Enemy, Breakestra, and Ced Gee. James was part of the New York hip-hop crew the Flavor Unit, which included artists like Apache, Lakim Shabazz, Chill Rob G, and Queen Latifah.
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