Who was rapper Bruce Sandlin? Angel Brinks opens up about her ex-husband's suicide on Basketball Wives

Basketball Wives star Angel Brinks opened up about her ex-husband Bruce Sandlin's suicide on episode 5 of the show. The rapper, who goes by the name X1, was found dead in his Las Vegas home on July 4, 2007. Angel revealed that it took her a long time to cope with the incident while raising her son Azari.

Basketball Wives was back with a new episode on Monday, June 13, 2022, at 8.00 pm ET on VH1. The one-hour episode was filled with drama as viewers saw the ladies dealing with personal and professional commitments and indulging in some good old drama. Most of it was focused on Jackie Christie's interference in other people's relationships.

Angel Brinks is currently pregnant with beau Roccstar on the show, and the couple held a gender reveal party where the latter gave yet another promise ring to the former, much to the surprise of the rest of the cast and Angel herself, who were expecting a proposal.

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Details on Angel Brinks' ex-husband Bruce Sandlin: Friends speculate death was staged

Bruce David Sandlin was born on March 6, 1979, popularly known by his stage name X1. The American rapper was known as a member of the New York rap group Gang Green and as an unofficial member of the popular rap group Onyx.

The rapper was found dead in his Las Vegas home and reportedly died by suicide by shooting himself in the head. However, his friends believe he was murdered, and his death was staged as a suicide during the Fourth of July fireworks display. The cause of death or murder is still unknown.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bruce moved to Queens with his parents a year later. Hip-hop became a part of his life when he began to showcase skills in the art while performing freestyles in public and at school.

Soon, he met teenagers from his neighborhood and formed a band that included Dez (later renamed Still Livin''), Chop, Cyph Certified, and Whosane, rapper Fredro Starr's younger brother. Then, he came up with his stage name X1 and started performing rap near fast-food chains such as KFC and others.

The members were noticed by the popular hip-hop group Onyx, who immediately invited them to the studio and named the band Gang Green, inspired by Fredro Starr's lines. Onyx signed them to their own label, Armee Records, distributed by Capitol Records and Mercury Records.

Bruce and his members released their first single, I'll Murder You, produced by Onyx. They also filmed a music video for the single, constantly played in rotations across TV channels. Several concerts and interviews soon followed. Over time, the band gained more knowledge and footage while also attending many of Onyx's recordings, including the recording of Evil Streets Remix with Method Man in 1994.

Bruce became extremely popular in the native area, after which Onyx members took him to themselves. Once in the new group, the rapper found his place and took part in recording three of the hip-hop group's albums: Shut 'Em Down, Bacdafucup: Part II, and Triggernometry, and in the recording of solo albums by Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz.

After recording Onyx's third album, Bruce focused on his solo career. He was still on good terms with the group and helped them with recordings for solo projects. In 2000, he signed a deal with Mike Tyson Records. However, the label didn't take off as much as he expected, so he then signed one with California recording company Ball'r Records, which also closed before he could come up with an album.

He then signed with Las Vegas-based label Dynasty Records, where he released his only solo album, Young, Rich And Gangsta, on September 19, 2006.

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Along with Angel and his son Azari, Bruce shared a son with his first wife, Baby Vasquez. At the time of his death, he was only 28 years old. As a result of the stress that his death caused, Angel's son was born a month early.