Mark Anthony Morales, better known by his stage name Prince Markie Dee, is an American rapper and member of the Fat Boys, born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 19, 1968. He met Darren Robinson and Damon Wimbley, with whom he formed the group Disco 3, which renamed itself Fat Boys and enjoyed international success with seven albums released between 1984 and 1991. After the split, Prince Markie Dee logically went solo, signing with Columbia Records to record the album Free (1992), which featured the lead single "Typical Reasons (Swing My Way)" (#64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #29 on the rap/R&B charts) and the lesser-known hit "Trippin' Out" (#25 on the rap/R&B charts). The album itself reached #47 on the Billboard 200, before the Motown release of its successor Love Daddy (1995), which had no impact on the charts. Prince Markie Dee is also known as a composer and producer for artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Marc Anthony. He later became a radio host on WMIB in Miami, then WEDR and Sirius XM in New York for the Prince Markie Dee Show, before dying of heart failure in Miami on February 18, 2021, the day before his 53rd birthday.
