MusicNews

Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, whose work in the spoken-word group the Last Poets helped earn him the title of the "Grandfather of Rap," died Monday. He was 74.

"It is with extreme sadness and a heavy heart that the family of Jalal Nuriddin announce the passing of this great pioneer of the recording industry," his family said in a statement. "Jalal slipped quietly away this evening into the arms of Allah." No cause of death was revealed.

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