Today in Hip-Hop: R.I.P Mausberg

On this day, July 4, in hip-hop history...

2000: On July 4, 2000, up and coming Compton rapper Johnny “Mausberg” Burns was murdered. Today, July 4, 2015, marks fifteen years since his untimely death.

As a young affiliate of DJ Quik, Mausberg rose to prominence quickly in the California streets during the late 1990s. Some slated him to be the "West Coast Notorious B.I.G." In the span of his short career, Maus appeared on famous complication albums and worked with the likes of Nate Dogg, Warren G and Snoop Dogg. Mausberg's flow was on Snoop's No Limit Top Dogg album on the track “Don’t Tell” in 1999.

Although he was young in the rap game, Mausberg was making all the right noise. With a debut albums nearly complete, Maus was robbed and shot multiple times while sitting in the passenger seat of a car in his hometown on July 4, 2000. Maus was signed under Sheppard Lane Records and the company released his debut album, Non Fiction, after his death. Mausberg was 21 years old.

In 2007, XXL spoke with DJ Quik on the anniversary of his protege's death. "He was such a big talent. He was bigger than life," Quik said of the budding MC.

R.I.P Mausberg.