Rapper Ricky Dunigan, better known as Lord Infamous, has died of a heart attack at age 40. The Memphis-based rapper died Friday night at his mother’s homein Mephis.

Dunigan made his mark on the music industry as a founding member of rap collective Three 6 Mafia, created in 1991 with Paul Beauregard, aka DJ Paul, and Jordan Houston, aka Juicy J. Members of Three 6 Mafia have confirmed the news on twitter.

Lord Infamous had just founded another group, Da Mafia 6ix, with other members of Three 6 Mafia. Da Mafia 6ix released a mixtape 6ix Commandments earlier this year.

Lord Infamous Dies Of A Heart Attack

Three years ago, Lord Infamous suffered a heart attack and stroke, but it is unclear if those health problems played a hand in his death. Dove Clark, Da Mafia 6ix’s publicist, told Hip Hop DX that the cause of death was unknown on Saturday, Dec. 21.

“He [Lord Infamous] did pass away at his mother’s house last night in Memphis…The cause of death is unknown. We’re actually trying to figure out how he died and that is all the information we currently have,” Clark said..

Later on Saturday, Dec. 21, DJ Paul, Lord Infamous’ bandmate and half-brother, revealed that Lord Infamous died of a heart attack.

“He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack. He said he was tired, he wanted to sleep. He sat down at the kitchen table, put his head in his arms to lay down…to get some sleep,” DJ Paul told The Hollywood Reporter.

DJ Paul added that his mother had left the house for a few hours and found Lord Infamous dead upon her return. DJ Paul hopes Lord Infamous will be remembered as a trail blazer in rap music, saying, “He’ll be remembered as a legend, everybody knew him as a legend, an icon. This year was going to make our twenty-fourth year rapping together. His music, our music that we made together, was truly before its time.”

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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