Ricky "Lord Infamous" Dunigan, one of the founding members of Memphis hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, passed away Saturday of a heart attack, according to his uncle and fellow rapper DJ Paul. He was 40.
"He was at home sitting at the table and he just lay his head down and he just left us," Paul said.
Infamous had struggled with similar health issues in the past-he had a stroke and a heart attack during 2010-but seemed to be doing alright prior to Saturday's incident. He and several other members of Thee 6 Mafia had reformed as Da Mafia 6ix during 2013, and had planned on releasing a new album during 2014.
Juicy J, one of the most prominent members of the rap group, reacted simply on Twitter.
"R.I.P. lord Infamous," he wrote. "Thx you for your prayers, I'm very hurt, can't believe it's true."
Infamous was well known by fans of the group for using darker lyrics than the rest of the group. Although many in hip-hop resent the term "horrorcore" to describe such music, Infamous embraced it, releasing a solo album titled King of Horrorcore during 2012, and also releasing solo LP Scarecrow Tha Terrible in 2013.
Below is DJ Paul'a full statement to HipHopDX.
"He had a heart attack in his sleep. His mother found him dead this morning. He had been dead, the doctors say, for about five hours. And she came home, he was sitting at the kitchen table with his head down on his arms. He had told his girlfriend that he was sleeping and he wanted to go to sleep. His girlfriend left and was like, 'You going to be fine?' And he was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to be good.' And she was like, 'You sure?' And he was like, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm positive, I just want to get some sleep.' So he laid his head in his arms at the kitchen table and he went to sleep and then when his momma came home, he was sitting at the kitchen table passed away."
