2 Cold Zeke

**Ezekiel Ruri Morales** (September 10, 1974-January 16, 2017; aged 42) better known by his rap name **2 Cold Zeke**, was a American rapper and songwriter best known for his 1999 album *Buzzard* and his 2003 album *Fuego*. He was active in the rap industry until his death in 2017.

## 2 Cold Zeke

### Born

Ezekiel Ruri Morales; September 10, 1974; Grand Chute, Wisconsin, U.S.

### Died

January 16, 2017 (aged 42); Kaukauna, Wisconsin, U.S.

## Musical Career

### Genres

Crunk, Gangsta rap, Hardcore hip hop, Drill (later material)

## Early life

Ezekiel Morales was born to a rapper father and a R&B singer mother, so getting into a music career was a easy bout, he started making music outside of his time of being a straight-A student and being a volunteer helper to Wisconsin International Raceway when he was in high school. He was later discovered by West Coast hip hop artist Christopher Wallace, who goes by the name The Notorious B.I.G., who became Ezekiel's mentor and helped pick out the name **2 Cold Zeke** for his rap name.

## Rap career (1992-2017)

Christopher Wallace agreed to let 2 Cold Zeke into a west coast recording studio to record a 4 track demo which Wallace's manager handed over to various labels, to which they turned him down. Eventually, the demo was sent to a representative from MCA Records, who became interested in the 18 year old rapper and signed to a three album contract. In 1993, 2 Cold Zeke released his debut studio album *Slyce The Dyce* which, despite being considered the first ever crunk album, got a cold reception. He provided guest rapping for Notorious B.I.G.'s song Big Poppa off of *Ready To Die* which he was uncredited for due to personal reasons. In 1996, 2 Cold Zeke released his sophomore album *Bigo* which featured a huge gangsta rap and hardcore hip hop influence and featured the 1997 hit song *Bounce That (Low Ridah)* with The Notorious B.I.G. which was his last recording before passed away in a drive-by. Bigo was certified gold by the end of 1996. 2 Cold Zeke opened for Ice Cube for his tour. In 1999, 2 Cold Zeke released his third studio album *Buzzard* which was certified quintuple platinum by the start of the new millennium. In 2001, he wrote the song Mississippi King for Five Horse Johnson off their third studio album *The No. 6 Dance* which entered him into a realm of songwriting. In 2003, 2 Cold Zeke released his fourth studio album *Fuego* which went triple platinum in July of that year. Fuego was the first album with Interscope Records after he was signed to the label in late 2001. In 2004, he wrote the song Vermilion, Part 2 for Slipknot's third studio album *Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)*, as well as playing the piano at the end of the song. In 2005, he released his fifth studio album *Not The Mama* which was more light-hearted with crunk elements. He went on tour with D12 as the opening act from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, 2 Cold Zeke released his sixth studio album *Stoked* which featured more crunk elements. He went on tour in 2009 with Lil Wayne as the opening act. In 2011, 2 Cold Zeke released his self-titled seventh studio album which distanced him away from crunk for a drill sounding. He went on Vans Warped Tour of that year on the Nintendo 3DS Stage. In 2013, he wrote and produced the song Berzerk for Eminem, which he opened for alongwith Rihanna for their co-headlining tour in 2013. In 2015, he released his eighth and final studio album *Sly Dawg* which featured collaborations of Xzibit, Lil Teslo, Eminem and Mix Master Mike. He toured for the album briefly in 2016 before passing away in 2017. Although there would be two posthumous releases in 2018 and 2023, them being *Knucklebones* and *Z*

## Discography

*Slyce The Dyce (1993)*

*Bigo (1996)*

*Buzzard (1999)*

*Fuego (2003)*

*Not The Mama (2005)*

*Stoked (2008)*

*2 Cold Zeke (2011)*

*Sly Dawg (2015)*

*Knucklebones (2018)*

*Z (2023)*

## Personal life

2 Cold Zeke resided in Kaukauna, Wisconsin until his death in 2017. He married R&B singer Tameka Harris in 1996 and had one child together named Mercy (born 1997; age 25), the two separated in late 1998 and got divorced in 1999. He soon got married WWE wrestler Stacy Kiebler in 2001 and had two children together named Paul (born 2001; age 22) and Shanelle (born 2004; age 20). The two separated in 2012 and got divorced in 2013. In 2014, he got engaged to Christina Aguilera and had one child together named Bandit (born 2015; age 8). Currently, 2 Cold Zeke's older brother has full custody of Bandit.

He had a Chow Chow dog named Hart (born 2007, died 2020) and a St. Bernard dog named Shark (born 2010, died 2021). He also owned British White cow, a White Park cow and some grey parrots.

## Death

On January 16, 2017, Ezekiel Morales was found unconscious by his next-door neighbor. The neighbor called 911 and was rushed to a hospital. He was murdered by a ex-best friend in the Kaukauna area according to a autopsy performed on him. Tributes began pouring in from various rappers he collaborated with and bands he wrote for.