Written by: Alex Green

Fresh Kid Ice, who rose to prominence with The 2 Live Crew has died.

Born Chris Wong Won, the pioneering rapper who co-founded the Miami hip-hop act was 53.

Won’s parents were Trinidadian and Cantonese, and though he was born in Port of Spain, his family moved to Brooklyn when he was 12.

At 18, Won joined the Air Force and that’s where he met David “Mr. Mixx” Hobbs and Yuri “Amazing Vee” Vielot.

After forging a friendship, the three formed The 2 Live Crew.

Although the group’s initial sound was a slice of bass-driven electro rap, the addition of Miami promotor Luther Campbell as lead singer gave the band a hypersexual sonic viewpoint.

The group’s 2 Live Crew Is What We Are was a provocative and sexually explicit effort which, on the strength of its controversy, was certified Gold.

Won had a series of health issues.

In 1988 he was almost killed in a car accident and in 2009 he suffered the first of two strokes.