Natina Reed of Blaque Dies in Hit-and-Run, MTV Says

What a horrible way to start a morning. From MTV.com:

Natina Reed of late-’90s girl group Blaque was killed early Saturday (October 27) in Atlanta in a hit-and-run accident as she was crossing the street, according to tweets from those close to her, including group member Brandi Williams.

I wrote a “What Ever Happened to…” column on Blaque not long ago and I was listening to their initial hit “808” in the gym just a couple of days ago.

This news hits me hard, not only because’s Natina’s death is horribly similar to the way her mentor Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes died in 2002, but because I always looked at Natina as sort of a twin sister. We were both born on the same day and year – October 28, 1979. Yes, Natina died one day before her 33rd birthday.

I mentioned in my column that Blaque was about a decade ahead of their time. Had they peaked in 2009 instead of 1999 they would have been huge. The music industry is currently infatuated with the pop sound they employed years ago.

Natina likely will be remembered for her hits with Blaque, brief marriage to rapper Kurupt and spats with Foxy Brown. But she’ll remind me how precious life is and how quickly it can come to an end.

Happy birthday, sis.