Rapper Black Rob, known for his hit “Whoa!” and key contributions to Diddy’s dominant Bad Boy Records in the 1990s and early 2000s died. He was 52 years old.
Black Rob died Saturday in Atlanta, according to an old friend and former label colleague Mark Curry, who said he was finally holding the hip-hop artist’s hand. He was hospitalized and suffered multiple health problems in recent years and died of cardiac arrest, Curry said.
“Rest in power, King,” Diddy wrote on Instagram. “You’ve made millions of people around the world feel good and dance!”
Born Robert Ross and raised in Harlem, New York, Black Rob began singing before he was a teenager. After signing with Bad Boy, he made surprising appearances with his label colleagues in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Diddy’s “Bad Boy for Life” and remixes of “What About Us,” “Come See Me.” ”From 112.
He did a 13 bar revenge story on the 1998 mailbox “24 Hrs. to live ”with DMX, who died earlier this month.
Her debut album “Life Story”, released in 2000, reached number 3 on the Billboard charts and went platinum, led by the infectious single “Whoa!”
”“ Whoa! “We went through an important moment in our hip-hop time,” Curry said. “He always felt like he was wearing the label on his back.”
His second album, “The Black Rob Report”, was his last with Bad Boy, and his career stalled due to legal issues. He served four years in prison in connection with a 2004 hotel robbery.
Curry said that Diddy has helped Black Rob financially over the years and that he pays for the rapper’s funeral.