According to AllHipHop, “Hitman” Howie Tee, the producer behind hits like Special Ed’s “I Got It Made” and “Treat ‘Em Right” by Chubb Rock, has died at age 61. The Brooklyn native was one of hip-hop’s most prominent producers during “The Golden Age,” and helped usher in a sound that helped get rap on the R&B and pop charts.

Born Howard Thompson in London, he grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn and in the late 1980s, Tee became the in-house producer at Select Records. It was during his tenure at Select that he produced smash singles for his longtime friend out of Brooklyn, Chubb Rock and a teenage phenom who was also out of Flatbush and who went by the name of Special Ed.

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