"All my jive is original, Jack,
If you hear it somewhere else,
Somebody's a copy cat."
-Rudy Ray Moore
The Godfather of Rap is dead. Snoop Dogg once said, ""Without Rudy Ray Moore, there would be no Snoop Dogg, and that's for real." The 81-year old star of 70's blaxploitation films, such as Dolemite, passed away Sunday night in Toledo, Ohio from complications due to diabetes.
Moore was a comedian, filmmaker, and blues singer. He was famous for his confidence, his sexually explicit raps, comedy albums, and films.
Rudy Ray was born March 17, 1927, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The oldest of seven children, he had to develop his extroverted personality just to be noticed. When he was 15, his family moved to Cleveland, where he began singing in church, eventually graduating to the city's rhythm and blues clubs. He later took his act to Los Angeles, where he worked as a DJ and began touring on the famed "Chitlin' Scene" as a stand-up comedian.
Moore is survived by four of his siblings, his daughter Yvette "Rusty" Wesson and his 98-year-old mother, Lucille.
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