Features
Lovebug Starski, 1960-2018
Johnny Nunez/WireImage – Lovebug Starski
Lovebug Starski attends the Jodeci ‘The Past The Present And The Future’ Album Listening Session at Liberty Theater on March 31, 2015, in New York City.
Hip-hop trailblazer Lovebug Starski died of a heart attack in Las Vegas Feb. 8 at the age of 57.
The news was confirmed to NPR by Starski’s manager.
The MC was credited with helping propel the initial hip-hop scene in New York alongside figures like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash.
He is credited by some as coining the phrase “hip-hop” before it was popularized by Sugarhill Gang, according to NPR. His early hits as Little Starsky included “Gangster Rock” and “Dancin’ Party People.”
His last performance in our records was in June last year at “The Art Of Rap” with Raekwon, Onyx, and Mob Deep in Las Vegas.
Tributes to Lovebug Starski poured in across social media from the likes of Chuck D.