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Hip-Hop Artist Fatman Scoop Dies at 53 after Collapsing on Stage in Connecticut

DJ Fatman Scoop arrives at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP)
DJ Fatman Scoop arrives at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP)
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Hip-Hop Artist Fatman Scoop Dies at 53 after Collapsing on Stage in Connecticut

DJ Fatman Scoop arrives at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP)
DJ Fatman Scoop arrives at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards held at Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008. (AP)

Fatman Scoop, the hip-hop artist who topped charts in Europe with “Be Faithful” in the early 2000s and later lent his distinctive voice and ebullient vibe to hits by artists including Missy Elliott and Ciara, died after collapsing on stage at a show in Connecticut, according to officials and his family. He was 53.

The cause of his death wasn't immediately clear.

He was performing at Hamden Town Center Park when he collapsed Friday evening, town chief of staff Sean Grace said Saturday. Mayor Lauren Garrett posted on Facebook that he had a medical emergency. Concertgoers and paramedics tried to aid the artist, who was taken to a hospital, she said.

His family said in an Instagram post that “the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon on stage and in life.”

With a gravelly voice and dance-floor-friendly sensibility, Fatman Scoop was a mainstay of club playlists around the turn of the millennium. But if the world knew him as the “voice of the club,” his family cherished him as “the laughter in our lives, a constant source of support, unwavering strength and courage,” his relatives said.

“His music made us dance and embrace life with positivity. His joy was infectious and the generosity he extended to all will be deeply missed but never forgotten,” they added, saying he leaves a legacy “of love and brightness.”

Born Isaac Freeman III, Fatman Scoop was from New York City’s Harlem neighborhood and broke out with 1999’s “Be Faithful.” What started as a minor success in the US took off in Europe with a 2003 re-release, hitting No. 1 on the singles charts in the UK and Ireland.

The next year, he appeared on the UK television series “Chancers,” in which musicians mentored artists who wanted to make it in the US, the BBC reported. He also was a contestant on “Celebrity Big Brother 16: UK vs USA,” which was filmed in the UK and aired in 2015.

Scoop — sometimes stylized as Fat Man Scoop or FatMan Scoop — collaborated with Elliott on “Lose Control,” a 2005 song of the summer that also featured Ciara. The track won a short-form music video Grammy at the 2006 award show.

The same year as “Lose Control,” he was featured on Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That.” He also was featured on tracks from Timbaland, David Guetta, The Situation and Skrillex, among other artists. In 2018, he reunited with Elliott and Ciara for a remix of the latter’s “Level Up.”

Elliott praised Scoop's “VOICE and energy” Saturday on X, saying he had contributed to many songs that made people happy over more than two decades.

“Your IMPACT is HUGE & will be NEVER be forgotten,” she added.

His longtime booking agency, MN2S, described him as an artist with “boundless enthusiasm,” a passion for music and a voice and personality that "made an indelible mark on the industry.”

His MN2S representative, Sharron Elkabas, said in a statement Saturday that she had spoken to him a few days earlier.

“He was in such good spirits. It’s hard to believe he is no longer with us,” she said.

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‘Agatha All Along’ Sets Kathryn Hahn’s Beguiling Witch on a New Quest — With a Catchy New Song

Kathryn Hahn arrives to the "Agatha All Along" premiere at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA, 16 September 2024. (EPA)
Kathryn Hahn arrives to the "Agatha All Along" premiere at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA, 16 September 2024. (EPA)
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‘Agatha All Along’ Sets Kathryn Hahn’s Beguiling Witch on a New Quest — With a Catchy New Song

Kathryn Hahn arrives to the "Agatha All Along" premiere at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA, 16 September 2024. (EPA)
Kathryn Hahn arrives to the "Agatha All Along" premiere at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA, 16 September 2024. (EPA)

As she reprises her role as the witch everyone loves to hate, Kathryn Hahn says it “makes total sense” she's continuing the story.

The “Agatha All Along” star, who first introduced Agatha Harkness to the world in the hit 2021 Marvel series “WandaVision,” said the rich complexity of her character excites her.

“It’s so juicy. You can see her as a simple bad witch, but she’s not. No one is bad,” Hahn said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “There’s always something that they’re covering up that they put all these levels on top of, so the fun was trying to keep the mask on with all these meteors of truth banging at that core.”

The Marvel Television series, which premieres Wednesday on Disney+, picks up after “WandaVision” as Agatha forms a makeshift coven to travel down the mythical Witches’ Road on a quest to regain her powers. Although Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch captured Agatha’s magic in “WandaVision,” Hahn said she has felt empowered by the role.

A symbol that has become a crucial part of her character is the Neopagan triple goddess — the maiden, mother and crone as depicted on a brooch Agatha wears in both shows. Hahn says those symbols of transformation in the female life cycle have been reflected in her own life.

“I did feel, walking into this, like I was going to be walking through a portal into my crone area, whatever that means, and it did feel very powerful to feel wise while walking through this journey as a woman,” Hahn said.

Beyond references to Neopaganism, Wiccan culture and other witchy motifs, “Agatha All Along” is ripe with allusions. Several films, television shows, musical groups and more permeate the show’s otherwise spooky aesthetic, but none appear more prominently than “The Wizard of Oz.”

Jac Schaeffer, the series’ head writer, director and executive producer who also created and wrote “WandaVision,” said the 1939 film felt like a natural touchstone. “We’re in the land of witches,” she said.

“Early on, it was clear that it needed to be a quest structure. And for me, the movies of my childhood that I love so much are all quests,” Schaeffer said. “Once we were sort of locked into that as the structure, it was like, ‘How many allusions can we bring in and what makes sense and what’s delightful, what’s witchy enough for us?’”

Schaeffer said the series also alludes to Fleetwood Mac, Kate Winslet in the gritty crime drama “Mare of Easttown” and “Big Little Lies,” which she described as a “prestige lady drama soap” where everyone has “sweaters and good hair.” She also said the group on that show, led by Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, are a coven in their own right.

The references work because Agatha is “such a performer,” Hahn said — and perform she does. In addition to borrowing from “WandaVision’s” propensity for allusions and replicating aesthetics, “Agatha All Along” also features another catchy tune the cast sings throughout the series.

Hahn, along with the ensemble cast including Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn and Debra Jo Rupp, sing a memorable song that opens a door to The Witches’ Road. Emmy-winning songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who also wrote the viral sensation “Agatha All Along” song for “WandaVision,” penned the tune.

Although some cast members said they were initially nervous to sing in front of LuPone, a Broadway legend, the three-time Tony winner insisted everyone in the cast could sing and blend their voices well.

“It’s magical to be in a chorus. Sometimes, the fates just align. Each member of this coven did have to pick up instruments or we did have to sing, and it all sounds great,” LuPone said. “Sometimes, things are fated. I think this was fated.”

The tight-knit bonds of the on-screen coven seem to have transcended off camera, as well. Hahn said the group developed a close bond during the shoot in Atlanta.

“Everybody is such a such a powerhouse in their own right that it was very easy to come to work. Everyone stepped up because we were all so excited to be working with each other,” Hahn said. “We were just sitting in a circle on the stage every day, just telling stories and talking about what food we’re going to eat next. It just became a dream.”

As the cast and creatives behind the series wait for its two-episode premiere, Schaeffer said she is holding her breath while eagle-eyed fans dissect trailers and theorize about the plot. Although she once thought “WandaVision” would be a “huge flop,” Schaeffer said she feels confident in the show.

“What ‘WandaVision’ taught me is it all kind of shakes out,” she said. “Not everyone will be satisfied, but the majority of people, I think what they really want is the ride and I feel confident that’s what we’re providing with ‘Agatha.’”