John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, co-founder of the early New York hip-hop group Whodini, who used electro-funk and R&B influences to expand the new genre into a commercially potent force, died Dec. 30 at age 56.
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.
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 and Nipsey Hussle.
“This man was legendary and a pivotal member of one of the most legendary groups in hip-hop,” the Roots’ Questlove wrote after news of Fletcher’s death.
Fletcher cofounded Whodini in Brooklyn in 1982 with singer-rapper Hutchins (DJ Drew “Grandmaster Dee” Carter joined later). In his trademark wide-brimmed hat, Fletcher was the immediately recognizable face of the trio.
“Rap needed some sex symbols,” he told The Times in 1987. “There was really nobody out there making the girls go crazy. The girls might like LL [Cool J] some, but I’m talking about a real, honest-to-God sex symbol. That’s us.”
The group signed to the influential London-based label Jive and released what was arguably the first-ever hip-hop music video for its single “Magic’s Wand,” which hit No. 11 on Billboard’s Dance Club charts.
“Jalil showed up with some guy named Ecstasy. [Jive] had no money and no contract for him, but [we] threw the rule book out the window when we heard his verse and his voice,” wrote Barry Weiss, the Jive executive who signed them. “We came up with the name Whodini, threw caution to the wind and watched as these two kids out of Brooklyn conquered the world and set the pace and tone for a generation of rappers that came after them.”
Their early collaborators were an eclectic mix of new wave and experimental rock figures such as synth-pop hitmaker Thomas Dolby and Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, along with Larry Smith, a major figure behind the boards for Run-D.M.C.
Jonnelle Fletcher said in her statement that “John ‘Ecstasy’ Fletcher was a beloved man, the life partner to Deltonia and ex-husband to Carla, twin brother to Joseph, artist, friend, and lifetime performing partner to the Legendary Jalil of Whodini.”
