{"id":618,"date":"2026-04-28T20:14:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/04\/28\/cleetis-mack-cause-of-death-digital-underground-rapper-early-tupac-collaborator-passes-away\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:14:00","slug":"cleetis-mack-cause-of-death-digital-underground-rapper-early-tupac-collaborator-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/04\/28\/cleetis-mack-cause-of-death-digital-underground-rapper-early-tupac-collaborator-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleetis Mack Cause of Death: Digital Underground Rapper, Early Tupac Collaborator Passes Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"post-553875\">\n<div>\n<p><span><span>Reading Time: <\/span> <span> 2<\/span> <span>minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>We have tragic news to report from the world of music.<\/p>\n<p>Cleetis Mack \u2014 the pioneering hip hop artist best known for his work with Digital Underground \u2014 has passed away.<\/p>\n<p>News of Mack\u2019s death comes courtesy of a statement issued by representatives of his former group:<\/p>\n<figure><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1664\" height=\"1335\" alt=\"Producer Cleetis Mack arrives at the Smooth Pre-BET party at Club A.D. on June 23, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.  \"   src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2107346-scaled-e1777406455652.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><figcaption>Producer Cleetis Mack arrives at the Smooth Pre-BET party at Club A.D. on June 23, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.  <span> (Photo by Amanda Edwards\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The reps tell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/04\/28\/digital-underground-star-cleetis-mack-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TMZ<\/a> that the loss of Mack \u201cleaves a void in our Digital Underground family and in our hearts that can never truly be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statement notes that Mack was \u201cmore than a part of the movement \u2014 he was part of the soul behind it, bringing warmth, loyalty, and quiet strength to everyone around him. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe will always be remembered by his humility, love, and spirited energy, qualities that lifted those around him and made a lasting impression on all who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Digital Underground was founded in 1987 by original members Shock G (Gregory Jacobs), Chopmaster J (Jimi Dright), and Kenny-K (Kenneth Waters). <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p> <iframe title=\"Digital Underground - Wussup Wit the Luv (feat. 2Pac) [Music Video]\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data-cookieconsent=\"statistics, marketing\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BwU8K9WF-bc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><div class=\"cookieconsent-optout-statistics cookieconsent-optout-marketing\">Please accept <a href=\"javascript:Cookiebot.renew()\">statistics, marketing<\/a> cookies to watch this video.<\/div> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Mack joined the group in 1993, first performing on the single \u201cWussup Wit the Luv,\u201d which also featured a young <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2025\/09\/assata-shakur-tupacs-grandmother-dies-in-cuba-decades-after-escaping-prison-fleeing-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tupac Shakur<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Though Digital Underground was best known for their 1990 hit \u201cThe Humpty Dance,\u201d Mack had not yet joined the group at that juncture.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s a testament to his immense talent that he was recruited for membership <em>after<\/em> DU had achieved international fame.<\/p>\n<p>Within minutes of the news of his passing, Mack\u2019s name became a trending topic across social media platforms, as friends and fans paid tribute.<\/p>\n<p>Mack\u2019s cause of death and his age at the time of his passing are both unclear at this time.<\/p>\n<p>We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available. <\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts go out to Cleetis Mack\u2019s loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 2 minutes We have tragic news to report from the world of music. Cleetis Mack \u2014 the pioneering hip hop artist best known for his work with Digital Underground \u2014 has passed away. News of Mack\u2019s death comes courtesy of a statement issued by representatives of his former group: Producer Cleetis Mack arrives at the Smooth Pre-BET party at Club A.D. on June 23, 2003 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards\/Getty Images) The reps tell TMZ that the loss of Mack \u201cleaves a void in our Digital Underground family and in our hearts that can never truly be filled.\u201d The statement notes that Mack was \u201cmore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51,2,28,229,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-hollywood","category-news","category-r-i-p","category-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}