Hip-hop suffered another major blow this month as famed Bad Boy Records rapper Black Rob died on Saturday, April 17 at the age of 51. His entertainment manager, Kal Dawson, confirmed the news on Instagram in a tearful message.
Last week, Dawson posted video footage of Black Rob expressing sorrow about DMX while lying in a hospital bed himself in what seems to be a semi-coherent state. In the clip, he revealed he was in a lot of pain but was fighting through it. Dawson asked for prayers for Rob at the time and set up a GoFundMe account for the ailing rapper. Rob suffered four strokes in the past five years.
Black Rob was born Robert Ross on July 12, 1969, in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in East Harlem. He released his platinum-selling record debut Life Story in 2000 which featured the monstrous hit single “Whoa!” produced by Buckwild. Rob, Diddy and G-Dep later had multitudes of fans shaking to their club banger “Let’s Get It” from Diddy’s platinum-selling project The Saga Continues…
Because of a few jail stints, his sophomore album The Black Rob Report wasn’t released until 2005 on Bad Boy while Game Tested, Streets Approved, was his last major effort and was released on Duck Down in 2011.
Prior to Rob’s illness, he continued performing and hosting events. Dawson was also promoting a “Get Down or Lay Down Tour” that was scheduled to kick off on April 16 in Hampton, Virginia, featuring the former Bad Boy rapper, Mr. Cheeks of The Lost Boyz and headlined by Beanie Sigel and Freeway.
Take a look at Black Rob’s classic hit videos “Whoa!” and “Let’s Get It” on the next page.
