Biography
Fat Boys propelled rap into the mainstream alongside their principal partner Kurtis Blow plus the three-man outfits Run-D.M.C. and Whodini. Although the Brooklyn crew cultivated an image built around hearty appetites, scored their biggest sales by updating vintage hits such as “Wipeout” and “The Twist,” and even appeared in the slapstick feature Disorderlies, the trio proved far more substantial than a gimmick. They amassed neither sudden nor short-lived success, instead placing four LPs in the gold or platinum column—Fat Boys (1984), The Fat Boys Are Back (1985), Crushin’ (1987), and Coming Back Hard Again (1988). On that basis only Run-D.M.C., whose tally stood at one gold and three platinum releases, outsold them among 1980s rap acts. From their very first single onward the group also addressed weightier topics with precision and immediacy, while the Human Beat Box, sharing credit with Doug E. Fresh, helped originate beatboxing by vocally imitating the full range of a drum machine. Their final album arrived in the early 1990s, yet they continued to inspire later artists, most vividly when Action Bronson sampled the chiming motif from “The Fat Boys Are Back” for “Let Me Breathe.”
Still billed as Disco 3, Brooklyn teenagers Mark “Prince Markie Dee” Morales, Darren “The Human Beat Box” Robinson, and Damon “Kool Rock-Ski” Wimbley first drew notice in May 1983 by winning a talent showcase at Radio City Music Hall. Promoter and Tin Pan Apple founder Charles Stettler signed on as manager and secured a Sutra Records contract. Working with producer James Mason—a jazz guitarist who had just ventured into funkier territory with Wuf Ticket’s “Ya Mama”—Disco 3 debuted on record later that year with the sober “Reality.” Kurtis Blow then took over production duties, and the renamed act resurfaced in 1984 with the lighter “Fat Boys,” a pop-rap template distant from both Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s “The Message” and Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Like That.” The same 12-inch also carried the spirited, wordless “Human Beat Box.” Both tracks entered Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart that June, logging eleven weeks and reaching number 65.
Now performing as Fat Boys, the trio joined Kurtis Blow, Run-D.M.C., Whodini, and Newcleus for the pioneering Fresh Festival ’84 arena trek. Weeks after the New York opener they returned to the Black singles chart with “Jail House Rap,” a hip-hop comedy that climbed to number 17 across nineteen weeks. “Fat Boys,” “Human Beat Box,” “Jail House Rap,” and the follow-up “Can You Feel It” all appeared on the Kurtis Blow–produced debut LP Fat Boys, whose supporting cast included Dave Ogrin, Larry Smith, and Davy DMX—players already central to Blow, Run-D.M.C., and Whodini. The set entered the charts in December and kept building through 1985, a year that also brought the second album The Fat Boys Are Back, Fresh Festival II dates, and a Krush Groove cameo highlighted by the soundtrack cut “All You Can Eat.” Those moves and MTV exposure drove strong sales; both Fat Boys and The Fat Boys Are Back, the latter spawning three additional charting singles, earned RIAA gold certification after peaking at numbers six and eleven on the Black Albums chart and registering on the Billboard 200. Even without a major single, the 1986 release Big & Beautiful—overseen by Dave Ogrin, the Latin Rascals, and Fresh Gordon—still reached number ten on the Black Albums tally.
Nineteen eighty-seven marked a commercial breakthrough. The group starred in Disorderlies, timed to coincide with Crushin’, their first Polydor album. The film’s soundtrack included the Fat Boys’ “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” a loose adaptation of the Beatles track, while Crushin’ offered the Beach Boys collaboration “Wipeout,” a number-12 pop single drawn from the Surfaris instrumental. That track itself went Top Ten and platinum, paving the way for a number-16 pop remake of “The Twist” with Chubby Checker, credited with “stupid def vocals.” “The Twist” anchored the fifth LP in five years, Coming Back Hard Again, which became their third gold release. Turning away from film tie-ins and retro covers, the group closed out with the tougher 1989 set On and On and the 1991 Ichiban/Emperor swansong Mack Daddy. Prince Markie Dee departed after the former for a solo career highlighted by the 1993 single “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)” plus production and songwriting credits for Father MC, Mary J. Blige, and Mariah Carey. The Human Beat Box, also known as Buff Love, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995. Prince Markie Dee passed away in 2021, one day shy of his fifty-third birthday.
Still billed as Disco 3, Brooklyn teenagers Mark “Prince Markie Dee” Morales, Darren “The Human Beat Box” Robinson, and Damon “Kool Rock-Ski” Wimbley first drew notice in May 1983 by winning a talent showcase at Radio City Music Hall. Promoter and Tin Pan Apple founder Charles Stettler signed on as manager and secured a Sutra Records contract. Working with producer James Mason—a jazz guitarist who had just ventured into funkier territory with Wuf Ticket’s “Ya Mama”—Disco 3 debuted on record later that year with the sober “Reality.” Kurtis Blow then took over production duties, and the renamed act resurfaced in 1984 with the lighter “Fat Boys,” a pop-rap template distant from both Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s “The Message” and Run-D.M.C.’s “It’s Like That.” The same 12-inch also carried the spirited, wordless “Human Beat Box.” Both tracks entered Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart that June, logging eleven weeks and reaching number 65.
Now performing as Fat Boys, the trio joined Kurtis Blow, Run-D.M.C., Whodini, and Newcleus for the pioneering Fresh Festival ’84 arena trek. Weeks after the New York opener they returned to the Black singles chart with “Jail House Rap,” a hip-hop comedy that climbed to number 17 across nineteen weeks. “Fat Boys,” “Human Beat Box,” “Jail House Rap,” and the follow-up “Can You Feel It” all appeared on the Kurtis Blow–produced debut LP Fat Boys, whose supporting cast included Dave Ogrin, Larry Smith, and Davy DMX—players already central to Blow, Run-D.M.C., and Whodini. The set entered the charts in December and kept building through 1985, a year that also brought the second album The Fat Boys Are Back, Fresh Festival II dates, and a Krush Groove cameo highlighted by the soundtrack cut “All You Can Eat.” Those moves and MTV exposure drove strong sales; both Fat Boys and The Fat Boys Are Back, the latter spawning three additional charting singles, earned RIAA gold certification after peaking at numbers six and eleven on the Black Albums chart and registering on the Billboard 200. Even without a major single, the 1986 release Big & Beautiful—overseen by Dave Ogrin, the Latin Rascals, and Fresh Gordon—still reached number ten on the Black Albums tally.
Nineteen eighty-seven marked a commercial breakthrough. The group starred in Disorderlies, timed to coincide with Crushin’, their first Polydor album. The film’s soundtrack included the Fat Boys’ “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” a loose adaptation of the Beatles track, while Crushin’ offered the Beach Boys collaboration “Wipeout,” a number-12 pop single drawn from the Surfaris instrumental. That track itself went Top Ten and platinum, paving the way for a number-16 pop remake of “The Twist” with Chubby Checker, credited with “stupid def vocals.” “The Twist” anchored the fifth LP in five years, Coming Back Hard Again, which became their third gold release. Turning away from film tie-ins and retro covers, the group closed out with the tougher 1989 set On and On and the 1991 Ichiban/Emperor swansong Mack Daddy. Prince Markie Dee departed after the former for a solo career highlighted by the 1993 single “Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)” plus production and songwriting credits for Father MC, Mary J. Blige, and Mariah Carey. The Human Beat Box, also known as Buff Love, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995. Prince Markie Dee passed away in 2021, one day shy of his fifty-third birthday.
Albums
