'Belly' Star and Grammy Winner Louie Rankin Dies Following Car Crash in Canada
Jamaican actor and Grammy Award-winning artist Louie Rankin has died.
The star died following a car crash in Canada on Monday, TMZ reports.
Rankin’s executive assistant Jewlz Sykes, with whom he shares children, confirmed his death on Instagram, sharing a slideshow of photos of them together.
“There are no words!!!!!!” Sykes captioned the post, which shows herself and Rankin cuddling and kissing. “Sleep with the angels my King!” she added.
Rankin is most known for his role as Jamaican drug lord Lennox a.k.a. Ox in Belly the 1998 film that follows friends Tommy Brown (Earl “DMX” Simmons) and Sincere (Nasir “Nas” Jones) as they rethink their lives as drug dealers in New York City.
Rankin and Nas remained friends following the film’s release and later reunited in 2016 as they were featured on DJ Khaled‘s track “Nas Album Done.”
Rankin also appeared in the 2002 film Shotta as Teddy Bruckshut and he starred in We Run the Streets, which premiered in 2014. He played Choppa.
Just one day before his death, Rankin announced on Instagram that he was in Toronto filming a movie.
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“The Original Don DaDa On Set  🎥 Shooting A Major Movie In Toronto,” Rankin captioned a video of him showing off wads of cash.
The late star, who was also a prominent figure on the dancehall scene, also shared over the weekend that he was working on a new album.
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“That album bout to drop!!! Can you smell what the Ox is cooking?!” Rankin wrote.
In 1992 he released his album Showdown, which featured his hits “The Muscle,” “Monster Move” and “Typewriter,” which won him a Grammy.
He later released his album Lethal Weapon in 1993.
