8 Mile actor Nashawn Breedlove, who played the role of Lotto in the 2002 battle rap film, has reportedly passed away.
His death was first reported on Monday (September 25) by Mickey Factz, who paid tribute to the actor on social media.
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“RIP to one of the few emcee’s to beat Eminem… Lotto from 8 Mile. Who’s friends lovingly called him, OX,” he wrote. “You will be missed for your tenacity and aggressiveness.”
Battle rapper Daylyt also saluted the 8 Mile star, writing in a comment on Mickey’s post: “The first mc who was ever robbed of his win in a rap battle! Rip lotto.”
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Pete Rock, Onyx and Grafh also reacted to Breedlove’s death in the comments section.
Further details surrounding his passing remain scarce. The news has yet to be confirmed on Breedlove’s own social media channels or by his family.
Per TMZ, Breedlove died in his sleep on Sunday (September 24) at his New Jersey home.
Nashawn Breedlove is best known for his tenacious appearance in 8 Mile, in which his Lotto character battles Eminem’s B-Rabbit and gives him a run for his money, but eventually loses the contest.
Rocking a white tank top and braids, Lotto stings Slim Shady with bars like: “I feel bad I gotta murder that dude from ‘Leave It to Beaver.'”
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Breedlove even carved out a rap career away from the camera, appearing on the soundtrack to the 2001 Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and DJ Pooh film The Wash under his rap name Ox.
8 Mile arrived to much fanfare in November 2002 and grossed over $242 million at the box office with a budget of only $41 million. The film celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and is still impacting pop culture to this day.
Ox isn’t the first member of the 8 Mile family to pass away as the film’s director, Curtis Hanson, died in 2016. Co-stars Proof, Brittany Murphy and De’Angelo Wilson have also passed.
Marshall Mathers recently reflected on his battle rap origins and spoke about how grateful he was to have cut his teeth in that environment.
“Coming up in the battle scene was the greatest thing to happen to me because I knew what lines were going to get a reaction from the crowd. That’s what I would focus on,” he told The New York Times.
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“So when I got signed with [Dr.] Dre, I was trying to translate that to record, to get that reaction. I would picture the listener sitting there and what lines they might react to. I just used that as a formula. Like, ‘How you gonna breastfeed, Mom?/ You ain’t got no tits.’”
Revisit Nashawn Breedlove a.k.a. Latto’s 8 Mile battle below:
