PHILADELPHIA — Mars Co-Op, the Philadelphia rapper known for the standout verse he contributed to the Roots’ song “Clones” from 1996, has died.

His death last week was confirmed on Sunday by Dice Raw, the Philly rapper who is a long-standing member of the extended Roots family, and was first reported on AllHipHop.com.

Mars Co-Op, who was born Phillip Blenman, was raised in the East Logan section of Philadelphia. He brought a toughness and street-wise energy to the Roots’ third album, "Illadelph Halflife."

He is featured on the recording for “Clones,” a single from "Illadelph" in which he trades verses about urban violence with principal Roots rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Dice Raw.

“I try to tell ya,” he rapped. “Don’t let these street … fail ya/ The way [people] by gettin’ clapped, [will] scare ya!”

The video was shot in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood and features a young Trotter and Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, as well as other band members including the late bassist Leonard “Hub” Hubbard.

“I grew up in the streets. … I ran away from home, got out on the streets, shooting [people], doing all types of [stuff]. Luckily, at some point in my life, I did have a father. The music saved my life,” Mars Co-Op, who also went by Black Caesar, told AllHipHop.com in 2012.

“We brought the streets to the Roots. Early on, they was doing street festivals and stuff, and then me and Malik was doing stuff that our peoples liked. Me and Dice [Raw] was from Logan, so our style was different. We was that street stuff,” he told the website.

After "Illadelph Halflife," Mars and Malik B left the Roots and formed the label Tali Up Boyz Records. Malik B passed away in July 2020 at age 47.

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