Three 6 Mafia founding member Ricky "Lord Infamous" Dunigan died from an apparent heart attack while he was sleeping at his mother's house in Memphis, Friday night at the age of 40.
"He was at home sitting at the table and he just lay his head down and he just left us," bandmate and uncle DJ Paul told the Hollywood Reporter..
Paul told the Hollywood Reporter that Dunigan was not ill, but did suffer a stroke and heart attack in 2010. The official cause of death has not yet been revealed. Dunigan's mother found her son's body dead at the table.
"His mother found him dead this morning. He had been dead, the doctors say, for about five hours," Paul told the magazine.
Dunigan and Paul began their his hip-hop career in Memphis in the early 1990s. Along side rapper, Juicy J, the two formed the rap group, Three 6 Mafia in 1991. Four years later, they released their debut album, "Mystic Stylez".
The group became the first rap group to win an Oscar for Best Original song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" in the movie "Hustle and Flow". Two years later, the group won Favorite Band/Duo/Group at the American Music Awards.
"He was a legend in the game, truly ahead of his time," Paul told Rolling Stone. "He was such a great lyricist and he always came with these different styles in his rap and his flow.
"Lord Infamous was the kind of person that never cared about having a lot of money or this or that. He just liked to make music, he liked to rap, and he liked to make people happy," he said.
Fellow artists immediately took to Twitter to react to Dunigan's death. Tweet also came from both current and former Three 6 Mafia members.
R.I.P. lord Infamous
— juicy j (@therealjuicyj) December 21, 2013
Thx you for your prayers , I'm very hurt, can't believe it's true — juicy j (@therealjuicyj) December 22, 2013
He gave us the name #Triple6Mafia he was a pioneer, he was a god, he was my friend. RIP Ricky "Lord Infamous" Dunnigan
— LIL WYTE New ® KOM (@Lil_Wyte_) December 21, 2013
I will never forget the shows we rocked together . My heart is in pieces — Lola aka Boo (@GangstaBooQOM) December 21, 2013
