Rapper-Producer Alias Dead at 41

Hip-hop has lost another talented artist way too soon as rapper-producer Alias died at the age of 41 on Friday (March 30).

The news was confirmed yesterday afternoon (March 31) by Anticon Records, the label Alias, born Brendon Whitney, co-founded. "Just received news of a major loss - the passing of our dear friend and Anticon co-founder @AliasAnticon," the tweet reads. "We will always remember him for his incredible heart and talent, and the support he gave us all. Rest in peace Brendon Whitney."

Alias' passing was also confirmed by frequent collaborator Sage Francis, who revealed the cause of death to be a heart attack. "There’s no proper way to say this or deal with this, but so I want to put this out there and then step away for a while," he wrote on Twitter. "Our great friend and longtime collaborator Brendon Whitney (@AliasAnticon) passed away of a heart attack yesterday. No one was nicer. No one. We love you, Bren."

Alias' presence in the rap game became known in the late 1990s. In 1998, he co-founded the Cali imprint Anticon with eclectic acts like Why?'s Yoni Wolf, Sole, Doseone and Odd Nosdam. Under the label he put out several releases including The Other Side of the Looking Glass (2002) and the instrumental album Muted (2003). His most recent solo project Pitch Black Prism came out in 2014.

In recent years, Alias had put his production skills to the forefront, and was known for remixing tracks and putting on ill live sets of beat-making and rhyming.

R.I.P. Brendon "Alias" Whitney.

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