Jam Master Jay, 37, a legendary figure who helped establish rap music in the mainstream, was shot in the head and killed Wednesday night in his recording studio in Queens, N.Y., police say. The New York Post described the killing as "execution style."

A founding member of the platinum-selling group Run-DMC, Jay (whose real name was Jason Mizell) was gunned down by two men who were admitted into the second-floor studio on Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica at about 7:30 p.m., authorities said.

The attackers shot another man, Urieco Rincon, 25, in the leg before fleeing.

Two women recording in the studio were not hurt, reports the New York Daily News, which quoted police saying they had no motive for the slaying. The shooting occurred just a mile from the rapper's childhood stamping grounds.

The murder is one of a number of violent episodes that have struck the hip-hop community, which has lost such major stars as Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls to assassins' bullets.

Mizell, who was married with three children, erupted onto the music scene in the early '80s when he founded Run-DMC with Joseph (Run) Simmons and Darryl (DMC) McDaniels.

Their manager was Joseph's brother, rap entrepreneur and activist Russell Simmons.

By dawn, fans had set up a memorial near the site, New York TV station WNBC reported.