Chi Modu, the influential photographer who shot some of the biggest names in hip-hop, has died. The news was first announced on Saturday (May 22) via Modu’s official Instagram account. “Our hearts are broken,” the post reads. “We continue the fight. The family request privacy at this time.” A cause of death has not yet been revealed. Modu was 54 years old.
Modu was born in Nigeria and raised in New Jersey. He first became interested in photography while studying economics at Rutgers. After attending the International Center of Photography in Manhattan, Modu picked up a job at reputable hip-hop magazine The Source. He would go on to shoot over 30 covers for the publication, and create images of Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Mac Miller, LL Cool J, and more. Modu also shot for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Jazz Times. In 2016, Modu published a number of his Tupac Shakur images in the book Tupac Shakur: Uncategorized. The photos were taken between 1994 (when Modu met Shakur) and six months before Shakur’s death in September 1996.
In addition to his distinct editorial images, Modu shot album covers for Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Mobb Deep, and many others. Modu’s work also appeared in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Hutchins Gallery, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“I feel it’s important to get these photos and these stories out,” Modu said of his work in 2011 interview with Complex. “Our generation, what we came up doing, really changed the world in a lot of ways. For a while a lot of us who worked in hip-hop tried to distance themselves from what they did, almost in an attempt to reinvent. But I think now we’ve come to a place where you can actually be proud of what we did.”
