Crazy Toones, one of the founding members of early 1990s rap collective WC and The Maad Circle, died Monday (January 9) in L.A. at the age of 45. A heart attack is his reported cause of death.
WC, who was actually Toones’s brother, has not yet spoken publicly, however Cube and many of the DJ/ producer’s friends took to social media to express their grief.
“I just lost my homie, brother, DJ, confidant and love one,” Cube said of Toones, who was his tour DJ. He posted a picture on Instagram of Toones on the 1s and 2s.
DJ Premier posted a picture of himself, WC, and Toones on IG. He spoke of an almost 30-year relationship with Toones.
Director F. Gary Gray, of Friday, The Italian Job, Set It Off, Fast 8, and more, expressed condolences as well:
“This one HURTS!!!!” wrote Real 92.3 DJ Big Boy:
And Ice T shared a series of tweets expressing his pain and explaining who Crazy Toones was:
Besides dropping several of his own mixtapes throughout his 30-year career, the 45-year-old Toones has produced for Westside Connection as a group and its members , WC, Ice Cube, and Mack 10, individually. Toones supplied tracks for Xzibit, Kurupt, and Snoop Dogg among others.