'He will be very missed': Emotional moments as family and friends gather for Kris Kross star Chris Kelly's wake

PUBLISHED: 20:47 EST, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 02:36 EST, 9 May 2013

Friends and family gathered in Atlanta for the wake of tragic Kriss Kross star Chris Kelly on Wednesday.

The public wake saw mourners greeted with an acoustic version of the group's multi-platinum hit song Jump upon entering the funeral home.

It came as a video filmed by Kelly the day of his death was released.

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Sadness: Mourners hug outside the funeral home where Kriss Kross rapper Chris Kelly's public wake was held on Wednesday in Atlanta

At the wake Kelly had an open casket and was dressed in a black suit with the pants forward, despite his dedication to the backwards-pant style he forged throughout his teenage and adult life.

According to TMZ, a sign was attached to the casket on the inside of the coffin lid reading 'Cause that's what I was born to do...' - a line from the Kris Kross hit Warm It Up.

The casket was also flanked by photos of Smith and Kelly in their heyday nearly two decades ago.

Family tragedy: Lemar Williams, Kelly's uncle, grieves outside the Atlanta funeral home for his nephew

'He will be very missed, especially within our family,' Lemar Williams, Kelly's uncle, said outside the Murray Brothers Funeral Home. 'To the world he was Kris Kross, but to us he was just Chris.'

By the evening, fellow Kris Kross rapper Chris 'Mac Daddy' Smith and rapper Jermaine Dupri, who discovered the duo in an Atlanta mall in the early '90's, had yet to arrive at the wake.

According to sources, Smith has taken the death of his friend and fellow musician especially hard and has been having a hard time pulling himself together.

Open to the public: People streamed into the funeral home throughout the day, even though it was not open to the media

Other than a few news vans and a cars driving past the wake blaring the song Jump, the wake was a quiet affair.

Kelly, 34 died on May 1 after an apparent drug overdose, believed to be due to using a combination of cocaine and heroin the night before his death.

During Wednesday's public wake, TMZ also released a video shot in Kelly's home the morning before the Kris Kross rapper's death.

Final hours: A video was released through TMZ today, allegedly shot on the morning before Kelly's death due to a drug overdose

The shaky footage shows people who appear drugged out and have been in Kelly's home all night.

At one point, Kelly attempts to rap along with the beat coming out of the living room speakers but can't keep up, though one of the lyrics that is audible is 'We don’t stop, for nothing or nobody … look around you it's full of dead bodies.'

The camera then traces over the rapper's framed gold and platinum records hanging on his wall, eerie in light of the tragedy that would transpire later that day.

Hours after the video was shot, Kelly's mother called 911 and told officials the Kris Kross rapper passed out and wouldn't wake up.

Keeping it backwards: Kelly continued to wear his pants backwards throughout his adult life

Kriss Kross had reunited once more to star at a 20th anniversary all-star concert honouring So So Def Recordings in Atlanta in February.

'Me and him, we have our times when we don’t talk and our times that we do talk,' Kelly told Yahoo Music when asked about his friendship with fellow rapping partner Smith shortly before their reunion.

'But if it’s any time that I needed him or needed to reach him it was never a problem.'

Kelly had also been broadening his talents, going to back to school to become a musical engineer.

'I just wanted to do something different,' he said. 'Get more on the technical side of things than just being an artist, and produce. I just wanted to be [the] all around best I could be as far as doing everything.'

When they were kids: Kelly, left, and fellow rapper Chris 'Mac Daddy' Smith were just kids when they were discovered by Jermaine Dupri in the early '90's

VIDEO: Chris Kelly's Tragic LAST VIDEO... Drugged Out Rap Session

Chris Kelly -- Tragic LAST VIDEO ... Drugged Out Rap Session - Watch More Celebrity Videos or Subscribe

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Nice house, at least he wasn't homeless maybe his money did goto good use afterall and not just drugs & alcohol.

- Saronnify , Birmingham, 09/5/2013 21:27

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jump jump was a good song :(

- shi_vonne , san francisco, United States, 09/5/2013 20:54

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The guy shooting the video seems like he's casing the place.

- James Towne , Toledo, United States, 09/5/2013 19:59

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It is sad that he turned to drugs and died from them.

- Emma , Midlands UK, 09/5/2013 19:55

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Anyone else think it's sad that there were photos of his 'hey day' 20 years ago.. No family photos or anything more recent...etc. bet there is no sign of his 'friends' from the drug parties either. - london, London, 9/5/2013 8:56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No, not at all. Are you naive enough to believe that because no photos of him with family or friends have been published in this article that his family or friends didn't spend time with him or care for him?

- laala , Middlesex, 09/5/2013 19:19

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must be getting old as i'd never head of this man or his tragic passing.

- steve1corby , corby, 09/5/2013 18:05

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Who cares? Another star dies of drugs... So be it!

- Norm De Plume , Wigan, 09/5/2013 17:53

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What a waste! Alcohol and drug addiction are diseases. So sad that he didn't get help for himself.

- Lark , W. Orange, 09/5/2013 17:28

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Children and young people need to know that drugs are not things you experiment with, once you try the forbidden fruit, odds are that you are well on your way to being an addict. The rest is history. Hope he finds the happiness that once eluded him and rests in peace.

- C.A , London, United Kingdom, 09/5/2013 16:33

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'He will be very missed':.....by his dealers lol

- Always Right , AlwaysRightville, Yemen, 09/5/2013 15:57

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