Shifty Shellshock, Singer of Crazy Town’s “Butterfly,” Dies at 49
Seth Brooks Binzer aka Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town, February 2001 (Markus Cuff/Corbis via Getty Images)
Shifty Shellshock, the co-founder and co-vocalist of the Los Angeles rap-rock band Crazy Town, has died, Variety reports, citing public information on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website. The musician died of an accidental drug overdose, his representative, Howie Hubberman, told Rolling Stone. Shifty Shellshock. was 49 years old.
Shifty Shellshock was born Seth Brooks Binzer to Leslie Brooks, a former model, and Rollin Binzer, a director and producer who helmed the concert film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones.
Seth Binzer met his eventual Crazy Town co-founder and co-vocalist, Bret Hadley “Epic” Mazur, in the early 1990s, and the group released its first studio album, The Gift of Game, in November 1999 via Columbia. Featured on the LP was “Butterfly,” a song that sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers instrumental “Pretty Little Ditty” and became a hit in its own right, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Crazy Town failed to replicate the success of “Butterfly,” but their second album, 2002’s Darkhorse, did include the relatively popular “Drowning” and a song featuring Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo called “Hurt You So Bad.”
Crazy Town went on hiatus after Darkhorse, and Shifty Shellshock released his lone solo album, Happy Love Sick, in July 2004. The album included the rapper’s biggest song outside the group, a collaboration with English DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold titled “Starry Eyed Surprise.”
Shifty Shellshock and Epic Mazur reunited for one more Crazy Town album, The Brimstone Sluggers, in August 2015. Mazur left the group in 2017, and Shifty Shellshock rebranded the band as Crazy Town X.
Beyond Crazy Town, Shifty Shellshock appeared in the films Clifford (1994) and Dead 7 (2016). He was also public about his struggles with substance misuse, appearing on multiple seasons of the VH1 reality shows Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew and Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House.
If you or someone you know is facing substance use disorders, we recommend reaching out to SAMHSA’s National Helpline 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
