The Rude Boys appear on the cover of their 1990 debut album, "Rude Awakening." The group scored two No. 1 R&B hits with "Written All Over Your Face" and "Are You Lonely for Me." Founding member Melvin Sephus died Oct. 28, 2026, at age 61. (Atlantic Records/Rhino)
Melvin Sephus, a founding member of the Cleveland R&B group the Rude Boys, whose hits "Written All Over Your Face" and "Are You Lonely for Me" topped Billboard's R&B chart in the early 1990s, has died. He was 61.
Sephus died Oct. 28, according to Gaines Funeral Home in Ohio, which has announced funeral arrangements. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed. The singer, songwriter and musician was part of a quartet whose success grew out of Cleveland's thriving R&B scene and a chance encounter with Gerald Levert, the singer and producer who helped launch their career.
The Rude Boys — Sephus, Larry "Bingo" Marcus, Edward "Buddy" Banks and Joe Little III — came together in the late 1980s. Levert discovered the group performing locally and helped secure a recording deal with Atlantic Records.
Their 1990 debut album, "Rude Awakening," initially struggled to produce a major hit. That changed with "Written All Over Your Face." The Rude Boys featuring Gerald Levert, "Written All Over Your Face," from the 1990 Atlantic Records album "Rude Awakening." (Audio: Rhino Atlantic)The song, written by Marcus and featuring guest vocals from Levert, reached No. 1 on Billboard's R&B chart in 1991 and crossed over to No. 16 on the Hot 100. It spent 31 weeks on the R&B chart and finished the year as Billboard's top R&B single.
The recording prominently featured the voices of Little and Banks, supported by the quartet's harmonies and Levert's unmistakable presence.
The follow-up, "Are You Lonely for Me," also topped the R&B chart, giving the group two No. 1 hits from its debut album. Another single, "Heaven," reached the R&B top 20. "Are You Lonely for Me," the Rude Boys' second No. 1 R&B single from their debut album. (Audio: Rhino Atlantic)The Rude Boys arrived during the rise of new jack swing, but their music retained much of the traditional vocal-group sound associated with the O'Jays, LeVert and other soul acts from their hometown.
Sephus' contributions extended beyond singing.
On the group's second album, "Rude House," released in 1992, he received credits for vocals, keyboards, production and vocal arrangements.
That album produced "My Kinda Girl," another R&B hit with an unexpected place in hip-hop history. A remix by DJ Clark Kent featured a young Jay-Z, years before the Brooklyn rapper released his debut album, "Reasonable Doubt."
Sephus also maintained his musical relationship with the Levert family.
He contributed production and background vocals to "I Got Your Back," a song from Gerald Levert's 1995 collaboration with his father, Eddie Levert of the O'Jays, on the album "Father & Son.
The Rude Boys returned with a third album, "Rude as Ever," in 1997. Their commercial success never again matched the early Atlantic recordings, but the group's ties to Cleveland's soul music community endured.
Following Gerald Levert's death in 2006, members reunited to sing at his funeral, honoring the man who helped bring their music to national audiences.
The Rude Boys were inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2019.
Sephus was the third member of the group's best-known original lineup to die. Marcus died in 2016 and Banks in 2020, leaving Little as the last surviving member of that quartet.
His family has established an online fundraiser to help pay for funeral services, burial expenses, a headstone and a gathering in his memory.
"He gave the world his voice, his music, his talent, and his heart," relatives wrote in the appeal, organized by Maleya Johnson on behalf of the Sephus and Johnson family.
A public viewing is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Gaines Funeral Home, 5386 Lee Road in Maple Heights, Ohio.
A wake will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, with a celebration of life at noon at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 11115 Kinsman Road in Cleveland. Burial is scheduled at Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery.
Music producer Timbaland appears at the Collision technology conference in Toronto on May 21, 2019. The Grammy winner has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $15 million from two former managers, alleging financial misconduct and mismanagement. (Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Collision via Sportsfile, CC BY 2.0)
Grammy-winning producer Timbaland has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $15 million from his former manager and business manager, accusing them of taking unauthorized commissions, concealing financial transactions and mishandling his fortune.
One of the defendants says the producer has nobody to blame but himself.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 30 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names former manager Gary Marella and business manager Bruce Seckendorf, along with associated businesses.
Timbaland, whose legal name is Timothy Mosley, alleges that the executives exploited their control over his financial affairs, taking millions in payments and commissions while failing to protect the wealth he accumulated during his decades-long career.
The complaint accuses Marella of collecting at least $2.5 million in excessive or unauthorized commissions and using Timbaland's money for personal expenses.
It also alleges irregularities involving payments from Verzuz, the music-battle platform Timbaland created with Swizz Beatz, and the sale of his music catalog.
According to the filing, Timbaland received two $5 million payments from Verzuz in 2021. He contends Marella was entitled to $1 million in commissions but instead collected $1.5 million.
The lawsuit further alleges that Marella and his company collected $775,000 more than their authorized 10% commission from Timbaland's 2019 catalog deal with Hipgnosis.
Timbaland also accuses Seckendorf and his firm of failing to make mortgage and federal tax payments while continuing to distribute substantial sums to managers and other professionals.
The producer says he discovered serious financial problems in March 2025, when a foreclosure notice arrived at his home.
An independent review subsequently uncovered questionable payments, undisclosed credit-card arrangements and transactions he says he never approved, according to the complaint.
Marella disputes the accusations.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, he said Timbaland was already experiencing financial difficulties when they began working together in 2017.
Marella maintained that his management team generated approximately $75 million in business over nine years but that the producer continued spending beyond his means.
He also rejected the suggestion that he secretly paid himself, arguing that Seckendorf, rather than Marella, handled the producer's finances and management commissions.
Timbaland's attorney, Tynia Coats, challenged that explanation in statements provided Monday to Rolling Stone.
Coats disputed Marella's characterization of the producer's spending and alleged that financial records had been altered to conceal discrepancies.
She cited a consultant payment allegedly recorded as $16,000 despite an actual payment of $165,000. Timbaland and his attorney also alleged that an email was altered to make it appear he had authorized a $250,000 payment to an attorney rather than $100,000.
Those allegations have not been established in court.
The lawsuit also accuses Marella of mismanaging Beatclub, a music marketplace the two developed together. Marella has disputed those allegations, attributing the venture's financial difficulties to problems developing its technology.
The dispute involves business arrangements behind one of hip-hop and R&B's most influential production careers. Timbaland's work with Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake and other artists helped shape the sound of popular music in the late 1990s and 2000s.
The lawsuit seeks damages, an accounting of disputed transactions and a jury trial. It includes claims of fraudulent concealment, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and civil theft.
Rapper Yella Beezy appears in a 2025 interview with BOSS TALK 101. The Dallas rapper, whose legal name is Markies Conway, is standing trial on a capital murder charge in connection with the 2020 killing of fellow rapper MO3. (Photo: BOSS TALK 101/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)
The prosecution's case against Yella Beezy has moved from a witness who says he lied to cellphone records that may be just as important for what they don't show.
An FBI agent testified Tuesday that phones linked to several people implicated in the 2020 killing of Dallas rapper MO3 traveled through overlapping areas and showed significant communication around the time of the shooting.
But the same records revealed no direct cellphone contact between Yella Beezy and two other defendants in the case.
Yella Beezy, whose legal name is Markies Conway, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder. Prosecutors accuse him of arranging the killing of MO3, born Melvin Noble, who was chased down and fatally shot on Interstate 35 in Dallas on Nov. 11, 2020.
FBI Special Agent Taylor Page spent much of Tuesday walking jurors through historical cellphone records involving Conway, convicted gunman Kewon White and other people connected to the investigation.
Page testified that phones associated with Conway and White traveled through the same general areas during a trip to Houston over Halloween weekend in 2020, less than two weeks before MO3 was killed.
He acknowledged, however, that cellphone-tower information cannot prove who was carrying a particular phone or whether two devices were inside the same vehicle.
The agent also described a surge in communications between White and another defendant, Devin Brown, around the time of the killing.
According to Page's analysis, White's phone connected to towers serving the area of the shooting before the device moved away. Communications between White and Brown increased sharply around the attack.
Prosecutors also presented evidence concerning Conway's movements after the killing.
Page testified that Conway returned to Dallas from Los Angeles on Nov. 20 and withdrew $40,000 from a Chase Bank branch in Frisco. Phone records placed another man connected to the case, Jerry Johnson, in the Frisco area shortly afterward.
Prosecutors have alleged that money was paid to arrange MO3's murder, but the withdrawal alone does not establish that the cash reached White or was connected to the shooting.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney Toby Shook challenged the accuracy and completeness of the cellphone analysis.
Page acknowledged that the records did not show direct communications between Conway and either White or Brown. He also agreed that cell-tower information identifies general coverage areas rather than a person's exact location.
The defense pointed to gaps in the timeline, including an unanalyzed three-hour period on the afternoon of the killing.
The testimony followed another significant development Monday, when Conway's longtime friend Theodore Thomas, a rapper known as Jose Bodega, disavowed allegations he previously made to a grand jury.
Thomas said he invented statements about a feud involving Conway and MO3 and an alleged conversation about paying for the killing.
He testified that pressure from federal authorities facing him with serious criminal charges led him to provide false information.
Prosecutors challenged that explanation, suggesting that Thomas changed his account because of his longstanding loyalty to Conway.
Judge Chika Anyiam instructed jurors that Thomas' earlier statements could be considered when evaluating his credibility, but not as evidence that the allegations were true or that Conway was guilty.
White was convicted of capital murder in September and sentenced to life in prison. Conway is being tried separately.
Jurors were dismissed early Tuesday to allow them to vote in the election.
The trial is continuing, with prosecutors attempting to establish how the alleged killing was arranged and the defense challenging whether the evidence connects Conway to that arrangement.
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