One of the first UK hip hop stars and co-writer of 'The Anfield Rap', Derek B has died aged 44.
Derek Bowland had UK Top 20 hits in the late eighties with 'Good Groove' and 'Bad Young Brother' and will be remembered fondly on Merseyside as the creative force behind the cult Liverpool FC anthem 'The Anfield Rap'.
Born in London, Bowland was an important pioneer of UK hip hop.
He worked as a pirate DJ and set up the influential Music Of Life label which signed many early UK hip hop groups including the She Rockers and Demon Boyz.
After spending time in New York, Bowland began to record himself and became the first UK rapper to sign a US deal.
Although obviously influnced by US artists like Run DMC and LL Cool J, Derek B was keen to reflect his UK roots, in doing so paving the way for modern day stars like Dizee Rascal and The Streets.
He hit the UK charts in 1988 with 'Good Groove' and 'Bad Young Brother' and became something of a media cause celebre as the sole UK representative of hip hop.
For many young pop fans, Bowland was their first glimpse of hip hop's unique style, as he made frequent appearances on children's TV and Top Of The Pops.
Bowland also worked as a producer and as former Liverpool FC star Craig Johnston explains he was the obvious choice to work on 'The Anfield Rap':
"I went to London and sought out a guy called Derek B who was Britain's first ever rapper. This is before rap had even come to Britain's shores and I was on it and I went to this guy and said: "Look it's a mickey-take - let's write it". So I wrote the words and he got the Twist and Shout hook."
The song reached the top 5 in 1988 and remains a firm favourite of Reds fans the world over.
Bowland was never able to recapture his early success and moved into production as well as writing with Vanilla Ice.
He is believed to have died of a heart attack.
Florian Stumpf, Hamburg / Germany around 2 years, 6 months ago