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WorldStarHipHop Founder Lee ‘Q’ O’Denat Dead At 43

By Amanda Katherine
Published on: 07:49 PST, Jan 24, 2017

The founder and CEO of WorldStarHipHop, Lee O’Denat (also known as “Q”), died on Monday night at the young age of 43. An autopsy is to be performed later today, but the WorldStar founder is thought to have died from a heart attack.

TMZ reported that the 43-year-old hip-hop website founder died in his sleep on Monday night.

[Image by Charley Gallay/Getty Images]

Q founded WorldStarHipHop back in 2005. What began as a site for him to post mixtapes gradually progressed into a combination of hip-hop videos, fight clips, mashups, and other outrageous camera footage featuring the hottest hip-hop players in the game.

Hackers reportedly destroyed the website soon after it was launched. O’Denat then reopened the site as a content aggregator. Since reopening, WorldStarHipHop has become a go-to site for uncensored fight videos and public sex acts.

WorldStarHipHop is the 269th most visited site in the U.S.

A number of the more violent videos on the website have led to people getting arrested. Police are now beginning to monitor the hip-hop website for leads.

One of those cases involved Philip Struthers in Tampa, Florida. When Struthers’ son, Jake, got into a fight in front of their house, Struthers cheered and shouted for Jake to “knock him out” and “slam his head on the ground.”

Over the years, WorldStarHipHop has transformed pop culture and has become a go-to website for the hip-hop youth to and discover new music and stay up to date with the latest industry news.

WorldStarHipHop changed the way that the rap industry delivered media to the fans. The uncut approach made the site a huge hit.

[Image by Charley Gallay/Getty Images]

“Nothing caught on camera can be denied, it’s right there in front of you — and you can’t question it,” O’Denat said in a 2014 interview.

“I believe that has contributed to WorldStar’s organic growth in popularity.”

Lee “Q” O’Denat built an expansive territory online and became so well-known to the point where if anything crazy happened in public, someone would yell out “WorldStar” as it happened, according to Complex.

The video-based platform attracts over 1 million unique visitors per day. O’Denat referred to the site as the “CNN of the ghetto,” according to CBS Atlanta.

One video of a Chinese restaurant exploding into a full-blown riot showed people hitting each other with chairs and throwing glasses and plates. The bystander who is filming the chaos repeats the mantra over and over, “WorldStar! WorldStar! WorldStar!”

Q was a pioneer for hip-hop culture at the time, and WorldStarHipHop’s impact on the industry is undeniable.

More details about Lee “Q” O’Denat’s death will be available after the results of his autopsy are revealed.

Recently, WorldStarHipHop signed a deal with MTV to bring their online content to TV through MTV2.

WorldStarHipHop will come to life in the new series hosted by All Def Comedy Jam’s Chris Powell. The comedian will host straight from the World Star VIP Lounge and will be joined by other comedians and correspondents to provide hilarious commentary on some of the funnier clips from the award-winning hip-hop website.

The series will also feature original sketches, man-on-the-street segments, and celebrity guests. It premieres on February 3 at 11/10c on MTV2.

https://youtu.be/Fpy6dfWx7l4

[Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Staff/Getty Images]

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