The cause of death was not immediately known.
“The African and Native American ancestors have gathered around and chosen this day, during the Winter Solstice, Dec 23rd, 2020 to call upon a most endeared, generous, and sincere soul,” Fletcher’s daughter Jonnelle wrote in a statement.
“‘One Love’ to one of Hip Hop’s Greatest! There will never be another,” his bandmate Jalil Hutchins added.
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Fletcher was born in Brooklyn and grew up in the neighborhood’s Wyckoff projects. Whodini came of age in the late ’70s and early ’80s, alongside Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Afrika Bambaataa and Kurtis Blow, some of the first acts to take an emergent hip-hop culture of DJ-driven street parties and gain notice in the wider music industry. Whodini’s sound — synth-driven with a hook-heavy mix of singing and rapping — would influence generations of acts and become prime sample material for Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Nipsey Hussle and Nas.