Marlon G. Fletcher (July 29, 1971 – May 22, 2003), better known under his stage name Big DS, was an American rapper and record producer from

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He was co-founder of the hardcore rap group

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

. As a part of Onyx Big DS released one album " Bacdafucup" and 8 singles on

JMJ Records JMJ Records was an American record label which was founded in 1985 by Jason Mizell, better known as Jam Master Jay from Run-D.M.C. The label was relaunched in 2017 by Jam Master J'Son, the oldest son of Jam Master Jay. The label released such ...

and featured on 1993's

Judgment Night (soundtrack) ''Judgment Night'' is the soundtrack to the 1993 Judgment Night (film), film of the same name. It was released on September 14, 1993, through Immortal Records and Epic Soundtrax and was produced by many of the album's performers. Every song on the ...

. As a part of Onyx Big DS was nominated as "Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist" on American Music Awards of 1994 and won "Best Rap Album" on 1994 Soul Train Music Awards.

Early life

Fletcher was born in South Ozone Park, Queens. He studied at

John Adams High School (Queens) John Adams High School (H.S. 480; often referred to locally as John Adams) is a public high school in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City, New York, United States. Planning for the school began in 1927 and classes commenced in ...

. In 1988, after graduating from school at the age of 17,

Fredro Starr Fred Lee Scruggs Jr. (born April 18, 1971), better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor best known as a member of the hardcore rap group Onyx. Fredro Starr was discovered by the late hip hop star Jam Master Jay o ...

created the rap group Onyx along with his schoolmates Big DS and Suavé (also known as Sonny Seeza). Big DS came up with the name for the group, he named it after the black stone Onyx. They began to make the first demos in the basement of B-Wiz with drum machine beats from an

SP-12 The E-mu SP-12 is a Sampler (musical instrument), sampling drum machine. Designed in 1984, SP-12 was announced by E-mu Systems in 1985. Expanding on the features of E-mu’s affordable and commercially successful E-mu Drumulator, Drumulator, a prog ...

Career

In 1989, Onyx signed Jeffrey Harris as their manager, who helped them secure a contract with the label

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

. In 1990, at York Studio in Brooklyn, they recorded their first single, "Ah, And We Do It Like This", which was released to low sales on April 25, 1990, on Profile. Big DS and Suave first met

Jam Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician, record producer and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC becam ...

at Rev Run's wedding in 1990. They met again in a traffic jam at The Jones Beach GreekFest Festival on July 13, 1991. Jay gave them about two months to get a demo, but Suave and Big DS couldn't make it to the studio to record the demo. They were replaced on the demo by

's cousin,

Sticky Fingaz Kirk Jones (born November 3, 1973), better known by his stage name Sticky Fingaz, is an American rapper, record producer and actor best known as a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx. Sticky Fingaz was discovered by Jam Master Ja ...

, who at that time was pursuing a solo career under the name Trop. Fredro and Jones recorded two records for the demo, "Stik 'N' Muve" and "Exercise", which Jam Master Jay liked enough to sign the group to his label,

. Big DS left the group in 1994 to start a solo career. Big DS founded his own label Illyotic Music and started producing music. After recording a few demos, Big DS sent them to

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...

, co-owner of

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

, in the hope of signing a contract with his label for the release of the album.

Death

On May 22, 2003, Big DS died in a hospital in Queens after receiving chemotherapy as a result of lymphatic cancer at 31 years old.

Discography

;With Onyx *1993: '' Bacdafucup'' ;Solo albums *1994: ''Demo Tape''

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Video game appearances

* '' Rap Jam: Volume One'' (1995) as Big DS

References

External links

Marlon Fletcher at Discogs
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big DS African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers Rappers from Queens, New York Hardcore hip-hop artists 1971 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians Deaths from cancer in New York (state)