Pop icon Michael Jackson has been reportedly rushed to UCLA Medical Center, this according KTLA. The man responsible for numerous platinum and diamond albums was taken by ambulance, when he called 911 at 12:21 pm PST, suffering a cardiac arrest. Paradmedics responded and confirmed.

UPDATE (5:45 PM EST): Website TMZ.com has reported that Michael Jackson has been pronounced dead at 50 years old. Paramedics were unable to revive the Pop star. He is survived by three children.

Jackson has worked with numerous Hip Hop stars, ranging from Notorious B.I.G. to Kriss Kross to Mel-Man. The onetime Jackson 5 frontman had been largely evasive from media the last two decades, after a controversial relationship with children that he was legally cleared of. His work has been sampled by numerous Hip Hop acts, including Naughty By Nature, Lil Romeo and Scram Jones.

Jackson's influence on Hip Hop was immense. From tracks like Ghostface Killah's "All That I've Got Is You," 2Pac's "Thug Nature" to De La Soul's "Breakdawn," the Indiana-born singer, producer and entertainer was sampled and interpolated. Having worked with producers in Hip Hop ranging from Quincy Jones and Teddy Riley to Swizz Beatz and Mel-Man, Jackson's appeal drove the culture, as Jackson professed publicly to be a fan of Hip Hop.

In late 2007, Rhymefest released The Man In The Mirror mixtape, a musical work influenced by and dedicated to Michael Jackson [click to listen].