Robert Ross (June 8, 1968 – April 17, 2021), known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...

. He was best known for his 1999 single " Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He spent four years in prison in connection with a hotel robbery in 2004.

Music career

Ross grew up in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

and began rapping between the ages of 11 and 12. He was inspired by the artists he listened to regularly, including

Spoonie Gee Gabriel Jackson (born May 27, 1963), better known by his stage name Spoonie Gee, is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of the few to have released rap records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term hip hop and some o ...

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, and

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

. When he was 22, he joined his first rap group, the Schizophrenics, though they did not release any albums. He initially rapped under the alias "Bacardi Rob". He began associating with the Bad Boy label as early as 1996, appearing on the Bad Boy remix to

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

's "Come See Me". He was then featured on several Bad Boy releases, including remixes to Total's "What About Us" (1997) and

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B ...

's " Love Like This" (1998), the song " 24 Hrs. to Live" (1997) from

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his mononym Mase (formerly Murda Mase and stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper and minister. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean ...

, and albums by

Puff Daddy Puff may refer to: Science and technology * Puff, a small quantity of gas or smoke in the air ** Puff, a light gust of wind ** Exhalation ** Inhalation * Puff model, volcanic ash tracking model developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks * PUF ...

& the Bad Boy Family (1997) and

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

(1999). He also made two appearances on Cru's 1997 album ''

Da Dirty 30 ''Da Dirty 30'' is the only studio album by American hip hop trio Cru. It was released on June 15, 1997, as a joint production by Def Jam Recordings and Violator Entertainment, with the entire production of the album coming from the group's prod ...

'', as well as albums by

Ol’ Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), better known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily f ...

Channel Live Channel Live is an American hip hop duo composed of Vincent "Tuffy" Morgan and Hakim Green, which recorded for Capitol Records and Flavor Unit Records. Discovered by KRS-One, the duo released its debut album, ''Station Identification'', in 1995. ...

The Madd Rapper Deric Michael Angelettie (born July 31, 1968), otherwise known as D-Dot, Papa Dot, and Madd Rapper, is an American artist, music producer, songwriter, TV & film producer and entrepreneur. He is the winner of The Grammy's NARAS Governor's New Ho ...

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, and others. These guest appearances earned him media buzz. In his earlier years, Black Rob headed the street rap team which he named "Alumni". His debut album '' Life Story'' was released in 1999 and rose above

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

sales. In early 2000, he released the hit single " Whoa!". Produced by

Diggin' in the Crates Crew The Diggin' in the Crates Crew, commonly known as D.I.T.C., is an American hip hop collective formed in 1992 in New York City. The collective's name derives from the act of seeking out records to sample for production. The collective is compos ...

member Buckwild, "Whoa!" became his biggest hit. The song peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top 10 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts. It was Rob's only solo single to reach the Hot 100. Black Rob's verse in the song "By A Stranger", was featured in the in-game radio station "Game Radio" from ''

Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...

''. Despite subsequently appearing on releases by

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

and

G. Dep Trevell Gerald Coleman (born November 19, 1974), better known by his stage name G. Dep (which stands for "Ghetto Dependent"), is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He joined Bad Boy Records in 1998 and released his debut album '' Chil ...

, he did not make another hit single. His second album, '' The Black Rob Report'' (2005) failed to perform as strongly as his debut and quickly fell off the ''Billboard'' 100 charts. In 2005, Jemal Mosley from Off The Block Entertainment started managing Black Rob's career. In 2010, he parted from Bad Boy and signed to independent label Duck Down Records. In 2011, he released '' Game Tested, Streets Approved'', which peaked at number 44 on the ''Billboard''

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. Black Rob also started his own independent label, Box in One, with Jemal Mosley. In 2013, he joined the reality series ''Come Back Kings'' with Ed Lover,

Calvin Richardson Calvin Richardson (born December 16, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. In 1999, he released his debut solo album ''Country Boy''. Career In the mid 1990s, Richardson went solo and signed with Universal Records. His debut alb ...

, David "Davinch" Chance (of

Ruff Endz Ruff Endz is an American R&B duo, consisting of members David "Davinch" Chance and Dante "Chi" Jordan from Baltimore, Maryland. They are best known for their hit singles "No More" and " Someone to Love You" Originally part of a quartet, the two ...

), Jeff Sanders, Jameio,

Mr. Cheeks Terrance Kelly (born March 28, 1971), known professionally as Mr. Cheeks, is an American rapper best known for his work with the musical group Lost Boyz, and as a solo artist with the single "Lights, Camera, Action!". Biography 1991–2019: L ...

and Horace Brown. In 2014, he appeared on the song "Take 'Em Off Da Map" on

Diamond D Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D, is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, abbreviated as D.I.T. ...

's album, ''The Diam Piece''. In 2015, Black Rob released his fourth studio album, ''Genuine Article'' on Slimstyle Records, which he produced with Jemal Mosley. Guest emcees include

Sean Price Sean Duval Price (March 17, 1972August 8, 2015) was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock. Early life and educati ...

, Tek, battle legend

Murda Mook John Ancrum, better known by his stage names Murda Mookie and Mook, is an American rapper based out of Harlem, New York. He is a veteran of East-Coast street rap battles, and has influenced the majority of modern battle rappers today. Alongside ...

, and Quas Amill. Ron Browz, former Bad Boy label-mate Q. Parker (

), Kali Ranks, and Quan all sing choruses on the album. Producers include

Easy Mo Bee Osten Harvey Jr. (born December 8, 1965), better known by his stage name Easy Mo Bee, is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, known for his production work for artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Miles Davis, as well as his affiliatio ...

, Coptic, Big French, and others.

Legal issues

Black Rob was sentenced to over seven years in prison in 2006 after failing to appear in court for his sentencing (which was set to be two-to-six years initially) on a charge of

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...

from 2004, in which he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of more than

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

6,000 worth of jewelry stolen in a hotel. He was released from prison in May 2010, and was interviewed by

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

two hours later.

Later life and death

During his life Black Rob struggled with homelessness and health issues. A GoFundMe page was created to help him "find a home" and "pay for medical help". Over his last five years of life, he suffered four strokes. On April 17, 2021, Black Rob died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

, at age 52.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Life Story'' (2000) * '' The Black Rob Report'' (2005) * '' Game Tested, Streets Approved'' (2011) * ''Genuine Article'' (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Rob 1968 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American male rappers American male rappers American people convicted of burglary American prisoners and detainees American robbers Bad Boy Records artists East Coast hip hop musicians Deaths from kidney failure Hardcore hip hop artists People from Yonkers, New York Rappers from New York (state) 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people