TMZ first reported that Lee “Q” O’Denat, Founder of WorldStarHipHop, died in his sleep Monday night (Jan. 23). He was 43.
It has been reported that Q was at a massage parlor at a San Diego shopping center when he became unresponsive. The LA Times reports paramedics arrived on the scene and tried to administer CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 5:30pm.
According to the coroner’s office, Q died of heart disease, with obesity being a contributing factor.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer for all Americans, and stroke is also a leading cause of death. As frightening as those statistics are the risks of getting those diseases are even higher for African-Americans.
The good news is, African-Americans can improve their odds of preventing and beating these diseases by understanding the risks and taking simple steps to address them.
With obesity being a contributing factor to heart disease, African-Americans are disproportionately affected by obesity. Among non-Hispanic blacks age 20 and older, 63 percent of men and 77 percent of women are overweight or obese.
WorldStarHipHip is a popular website known for posting mixtapes, footage of fights and music videos. While Q was often criticized for highlighting Black culture in a negative light, he played an influential role in the hip hip community, as artists would premiere their new music on the site.
In a 2015 interview with the New York Times, Q said, “Hip hop is for the sex, the drugs, the violence, the beefs, the culture.” He added, “That’s the competitiveness of hip hop, so I felt like the site needed to be R-rated.”
“People may be offended by some of the content, but, hey, the internet is not a censorship boat. We’re the Carnival cruise, man. You don’t have to log on,” Q explained about the controversial site.
The WorldStarHipHop team confirmed that the site will continue and posted a tribute to the media mogul saying that he was great businessman who created the largest hip hop website and championed urban culture. “More than that, he was a devoted father and one of the nicest, most generous persons to ever grace this planet. We will miss his hearty laugh and warm spirit,” read the post.
Q had plans of making WorldStarHipHop mainstream and was recently working on his latest business endeavor, the launch of a WorldStar TV show on MTV2 that was scheduled to debut February 2017.
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