Longtime fans of Hip hop legend Biz Markie fled to social media Wednesday night (June 30) to prematurely offer their condolences for the ailing rapper after reports surfaced he passed away.

Now, the family has stepped forward to set the record straight.

Most famous for his 1989 hit, ‘Just a Friend,’ the rapper – born Marcel Hall – had been coping with a number of health failures including a stroke that he suffered in 2020 while hospitalized for complications with Type 2 diabetes.  The incident reportedly left him with ‘significant brain damage.’

However, despite a flood of death reports, the 57-year-old is alive and in hospice care (per updates from his family and close sources).

Award-winning journalist Roland Martin took to Twitter to say:

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