Lord Infamous (Three 6 Mafia) passes away at age 40

On December 20, 2013, Lord’s younger brother, Ben, found his body in the kitchen of their mother’s house in Memphis. Gangsta Boo tweeted that Lord Infamous had passed away, and that people “respect the family and dear friends during this tragedy.

In 2013, Infamous rejoined four of the original Three 6 Mafia members to form the group Da Mafia 6ix. They released their debut mixtape 6ix Commandments in late 2013 and are currently working on a studio album.

Infamous, real name Ricky Dunigan was an integral part in the rise of Memphis hip-hop within Three Six Mafia, as the early traits of the group were rooted in horrorcore like macabre imagery (his being darker than anyone else thus earning the nickname “Lord Of Horrorcore”), dark organ and snare like sonics, essentially the birth of what most would call “trap” beats. When the group switched their lyricism for a far more hardcore approach, Infamous continued on dumping off bodies on wax as if nothing had changed.

A member since the beginning, Infamous was a vital part of the Mafia’s success before the group broke through in the mainstream with “Stay Fly” in 2005, missing out on their biggest album Most Known Unknown due to a parole violation.

He and four of the original members of Three 6 Mafia recently released 6ix Commandments which landed at #34 on the Billboard charts.