Fresh Kid Ice, a founding member of the rap group 2 Live Crew, has died, aged 53, according to his manager.

The rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wong Won, died in a Miami hospital on Thursday after suffering an undisclosed medical condition.

Fresh Kid Ice was widely regarded as one of the first major Asian rappers in the United States when he and 2 Live Crew burst into the Miami hip hop scene in the mid-1980s.

Fresh Kid Ice, whose real name was Christopher Wong Won, died in a Miami hospital on Thursday after suffering an undisclosed medical condition

Fresh Kid Ice (right) was widely regarded as one of the first major Asian rappers in the United States when he and 2 Live Crew (pictured above in 1989) burst into the Miami hip hop scene in the mid-1980s

Fellow 2 Live Crew member Uncle Luke tweeted about Fresh Kids Ice's death shortly after the rapper's manager told TMZ of his death.

'My Condolence goes out to the family Chris Wong Wong Fresh Kid Ice of the 2 Live Crew who just passed away people we lost a legend,' he wrote.

Miami rapper Rick Ross also sent out a tribute to the rapper.

'Dam! Just got call we lost 2 Live crew legend Fresh Kid Ice this morning! RIP,' he wrote.

The group 2 Live Crew, which he formed alongside Mr. Mixx and Amazing Vee, is known for explicit hits including 'Me So Horny', 'What I Like' and 'Throw the D'.

Their most popular album, As Nasty As They Want To Be, which was released in 1989, was the first album that the US government deemed legally obscene.

The group 2 Live Crew, which he formed alongside Mr. Mixx and Amazing Vee, is known for explicit hits including 'Me So Horny', 'What I Like' and 'Throw the D'

He and pal Uncle Luke, whose real name is Luther Campbell, were arrested in 1990 after police deemed one of their live performances obscene and lewd.

The group referenced their legal problems with their next album, 1999's Banned in the USA and sampled Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A.

The obscene label was eventually overturned in 1992, when the US Court of Appeals for the 11th District ruled that the album featured significant influences from literary traditions and African-American Culture.

Fresh Kid Ice was the only member to appear on every 2 Live Crew album. The group's last record, The Real One, was released in 1998.

The rapper, who served four years in the Air Force before entering the music world, went on to form his own record label, Chinaman Records.

He released Freaky Chinese in 2004, which notably featured several appearances from Flo Rida before he hit song charts.

Fellow 2 Live Crew member Uncle Luke tweeted about Fresh Kids Ice's death shortly after the rapper's manager broke news of his death

In 2015, Fresh Kid Ice released a memoir, My Rise 2 Fame: The Tell All Autobiography of a Hip Hop Legend.

In a 2016 interview with Vice, he described the current state of Asian representation in rap and hip hop music.

'The Asians were there in the beginning of hip-hop — but as DJs,' he said. 'We've been in the background and stayed behind the scenes, but we learn from our mistakes.

'A lot of people see us as being passive, but sometimes being passive means that you're learning. Right now, I see us right there with everyone else. (An Asian rapper) has to just come along and do it big.'

Fresh Kid Ice suffered strokes in 2008 and 2010. The incidents impaired his speech and movement, but he eventually taught himself how to walk and talk again.

In 2012, he, Uncle Luke and Brother Marquis had a 2 Live Crew reunion.

Fresh Kid Ice is the second major rapper to face an untimely death in the last month - rapper Prodigy, best known as one half of the New York hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, died on June 20, aged 42.