The Fat Boys Are Honored with a Street Named After Them in Brooklyn in Recognition of Their Influence on Hip-Hop
A street in Brooklyn, Schenck Avenue, will be renamed Fat Boys Avenue on August 22, 2026, in honor of the influential hip-hop group The Fat Boys, of whom only Kool Rock-Ski is still alive to receive this recognition. The group took hip-hop to new places and cultivated a sound all their own, including three films and a collaboration with The Beach Boys. Two members, Buff Love and Prince Markie Dee, have passed away, but their legacy lives on in the neighborhood where they got their start.
Kool Rock-Ski stood alone on the corner where his group is now immortalized. Starting August 22, 2026, a street in Brooklyn will be named after The Fat Boys, but two-thirds of the trio are no longer here to see it.
Schenck Avenue in East New York is now called Fat Boys Avenue. That's where it all began, in the early 1980s. First as Disco 3, and later as the group that brought hip-hop to places where no one expected rap.
**From Beatboxing to Hollywood**
The Fat Boys were everywhere. Three movies in three years: "Krush Groove" in 1985, "Knights of the City" in 1986, and their own feature film "Disorderlies" in 1987. For many people, this was their first introduction to beatboxing, to the energy of hip-hop, and to the culture.
Their collaboration with The Beach Boys on "Wipe Out" in 1987 wasn’t just a gimmick. It proved that rap didn’t have to stay confined to a specific genre. Generations and genres blended together, without any forced crossover gimmicks. It just felt natural.
**Two empty spots**
Buff Love died on December 10, 1995. A heart attack; he was 28 years old. He had the flu and was suffering from lymphedema. His vocal percussion had been the group’s trademark—gone.
Prince Markie Dee, the charismatic frontman of The Fat Boys, died on February 18, 2021, of heart failure. He was 52. That left only Kool Rock-Ski to accept the award.
**The Lesson from Kurtis Blow**
At the ceremony, Kool Rock-Ski gave credit where credit was due. "What Kurtis Blow did was introduce us to the music industry and teach us to always write our own rhymes," he said.
Those mentoring sessions shaped everything they created. Their own sound, their own words, their own path. Kurtis Blow gave them the tools; they used them to build something that stood the test of time.
The Fat Boys didn't make noise just for the sake of making noise. They built something that matters—something that is now literally on the map in the neighborhood where it originated. But only one of the three is still around to see it.
