MC Supreme, ‘Black in America’ Rapper, Dead at 47

Rapper MC Supreme, best known for his 1990 song “Black in America,” was killed while sitting in a parked car on California’s Pacific Coast Highway when a pickup truck struck his vehicle, according to Variety. He was 47.

The rapper, whose real name was Dewayne Lawrence Coleman, was sitting in the driver’s seat next to a woman in his Honda Civic on the shoulder of the highway at 6:22 a.m. when a man driving a GMC pickup struck the vehicle. Coleman’s car rolled into an embankment, and the truck flipped over the vehicle and hit another pickup truck. The rapper was pronounced dead at the scene, while the female passenger was taken to a hospital and treated for what Los Angeles Times describes as “moderate injuries.” Two people in the other pickup truck were uninjured.

Police arrested 34-year-old Philip Thomas Torres II, who sustained minor injuries, on the suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. An investigation is underway.

The collision is one of many that occurred on the Pacific Coast Highway over the weekend, according to the Times. Actor Rob Lowe, who lives in Malibu which borders the roadway, used MC Supreme’s death as an example on Twitter for needed work on the motorway. Referencing a link to a story about Coleman’s death, he wrote, “Malibu’s leadership has pretty much always been a disgrace. Exhibit A.” He added, “PCH’s been a death trap for decades. No local care to address it. Sad and unacceptable. “

MC Supreme’s “Black in America” originally appeared on the compilation We’re All in the Same Gang.