NEW YORK (AP) — Fatman Scoop, the hip-hop artist who topped charts in Europe with “Be Faithful” in the early 2000s and later lent his distinctive voice and ebullient vibe to hits by artists including Missy Elliott and Ciara, died after collapsing on stage at a show in Connecticut, according to officials and his family. He was 56.
The cause of his death wasn't immediately clear.
He was performing at Hamden Town Center Park when he collapsed Friday evening, town chief of staff Sean Grace said Saturday. Mayor Lauren Garrett posted on Facebook that he had a medical emergency. Concertgoers and paramedics tried to aid the artist, who was taken to a hospital, she said.
His family said in an Instagram post that “the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon on stage and in life.”
With a gravelly voice and dance-floor-friendly sensibility, Fatman Scoop was a mainstay of club playlists around the turn of the millennium. But if the world knew him as the “voice of the club,” his family cherished him as “the laughter in our lives, a constant source of support, unwavering strength and courage,” his relatives said.
“His music made us dance and embrace life with positivity. His joy was infectious and the generosity he extended to all will be deeply missed but never forgotten,” they added, saying he leaves a legacy “of love and brightness.”
Born Isaac Freeman III, Fatman Scoop was from New York City’s Harlem neighborhood and broke out with 1999’s “Be Faithful.” What started as a minor success in the U.S. took off in Europe with a 2003 re-release, hitting No. 1 on the singles charts in the U.K. and Ireland.
The next year, he appeared on the U.K. television series “Chancers,” in which musicians mentored artists who wanted to make it in the U.S., the BBC reported. He also was a contestant on “Celebrity Big Brother 16: UK vs USA,” which was filmed in the U.K. and aired in 2015.
Scoop — sometimes stylized as Fat Man Scoop or FatMan Scoop — collaborated with Elliott on “Lose Control,” a 2005 song of the summer that also featured Ciara. The track won a short-form music video Grammy at the 2006 award show.
The same year as “Lose Control,” he was featured on Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That.” He also was featured on tracks from Timbaland, David Guetta, The Situation and Skrillex, among other artists. In 2018, he reunited with Elliott and Ciara for a remix of the latter’s “Level Up.”
Elliott praised Scoop's “VOICE and energy” Saturday on X, saying he had contributed to many songs that made people happy over more than two decades.
“Your IMPACT is HUGE & will be NEVER be forgotten,” she added.
His longtime booking agency, MN2S, described him as an artist with “boundless enthusiasm,” a passion for music and a voice and personality that "made an indelible mark on the industry.”
His MN2S representative, Sharron Elkabas, said in a statement Saturday that she had spoken to him a few days earlier.
“He was in such good spirits. It’s hard to believe he is no longer with us,” she said.
Associated Press writer Mallika Sen contributed to this report.
An earlier version of this report had an incorrect age for Fatman Scoop.
FILE - DJ Fatman Scoop arrives at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.
The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.
The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”
“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.
The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.
Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.
Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.
Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.
Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.
Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.
The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.
FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
