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Benjy Melendez, a former leader of the Ghetto Brothers gang and band, has died according to news from his wife. Melendez, also known as Yellow Benjy, was a subject of the 2015 Rubble Kings documentary which focused on the tensions between street gangs in the Bronx during the 70s and the truce Melendez helped negotiate between the warring factions.

HHDX spoke with author Amir Said, who relayed statements from Melendez’s wife about the details surrounding the Puerto Rican nationalist and beloved figure’s death.

From HHDX:

“He died of natural causes,” Said explains in an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “He had kidney failure and had been waiting for a kidney transplant. His condition had gotten much worse over the last couple of years. I was told by his wife that yesterday (May 28) he fell and cut his arm badly. He was then rushed to the hospital. But given the complications of his kidney failure, sadly, he did not make it.”

Melendez, who was also the frontman for the Ghetto Brothers band, was the subject of the 2015 documentary, Rubble Kings, which focused on the heavy gang violence in 1970s New York City.

Melendez was 65.

Photo: screen cap/YouTube