Actor and rapper Nashawn Breedlove, known for taking on Eminem in a rap battle in the film 8 Mile, has died aged 46. He died in his sleep at his home in New Jersey on Sunday, TMZ reported.

The musician was most famous for battle-rapping Eminem in the 2002 film 8 Mile, in which he played Lotto.

In 8 Mile, Nashawn as Lotto famously rapped “I feel bad I gotta murder that dude from ‘Leave it to Beaver'”, prompting cheers from the crowd but ultimately lost the showdown to Eminem’s B-Rabbit.

American hip-hop artist took to Instagram to pay tribute to the star. He dropped a video from the movie '8 Mile' featuring Eminem and Nashawn.

He captioned the post, "RIP to one of the few emcees to beat Eminem... Lotto from 8 Mile. Who's friends lovingly called him, OX. You will be missed for your tenacity and aggressiveness."
 
Another battle rapper, Daylyt, paid tribute to Breedlove in the comment section of Micky's post, saying, "The first MC who was ever robbed of his rap battle victory!" Lotto rip."

American rapper wrote Mega Ran, “Yeah he definitely won this one. RIP."

According to TMZ, before his big break on 8 Mile, Nashawn began rapping under the stage name OX, with a feature on the soundtrack for the 2001 film The Wash with Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg.