After causing concern among fans when a video that showed him looking frail in a hospital bed was shared on social media, former Bad Boy MC Black Rob has died at age 51. The New York artist died April 18 in Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital of cardiac arrest after a battle with kidney disease, according to Rolling Stone.
Rob’s death was first publicly announced by his friend and fellow former Bad Boy artist Mark Curry in a video post on Instagram. “I don’t know where to begin this, but I thank everybody for the donations. Rob passed away about an hour ago. I need for his daughter, Iona Ross, little Robert Ross, y’all get in touch with me, please,” Curry said with tears in his eyes.
Best known for his 2000 hit song “Whoa,” Rob released four studio albums: “Life Story” (2000), “The Black Rob Report” (2005), “Game Tested, Streets Approved (2011) and Genuine Article (2015). Life Story reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 charts and Whoa reached No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also started his own label after leaving Bad Boy.
In the aforementioned video posted to Instagram by DJ Self on April 9, Black Rob was visibly very weak and struggling to speak. “Pain is crazy, man,” Black Rob said in the video. “It’s helping me out though. It’s making me realize I gotta lot to go on. I gotta lot to go on, man.” When someone off camera asks what he feels about DMX, he replies, “I feel for everything about X. X, one love, man. Positive.Big love to X, man. That’s all, man.”
DJ Self asked fans to “keep our prayers up” and wished Rob a speedy recovery. Rob himself was optimistic he would get better, posting to Instagram last week, “I’m going to get better and hopefully have the opportunity to see More of you. As I progress, I will keep you all posted!”
Curry and Mike Zombie had been using their platforms to to riase awareness about Rob’s condition and also created a GoFundMe to “help him find a home, pay for medical help & stability during these trying times. We’ve lost a lot legends and we can’t afford to lose anymore.”
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The campaign had raised over $30,000 of a $50,000 goal at the time of this writing. Curry expressed his appreciation to fans for their love and support.
“Everbody man, I just want to say thank you. We really did some amazing stuff. RIP to my brother. I was dead with him, I was dead with him,” Curry said in a follow-up video on Instagram. “I ain’t talk to Puff in 15 years. We talked today. This is the beginning of a new us. Rob made sure he knew what he had to do before he parted this world to make sure we all alright — and that’s what he did. Bad Boy for life, yo.”
Rob had been battling health problems for years, which he touched upon after being released form the hospital shortly before his death. “I’ve been dealing with this for five years. Damn. Four strokes, I don’t know what to tell you. This sh– is crazy, this sh– is hard. I don’t have no house to live in. I need some rest, man,” he said in a video days before his death.
He expounded on the issue years earlier in a 2015 interview on “Sway In The Morning,” stating he’d changed his lifestyle to combat his health challenges. “It ain’t no drugs. Lately, I had high blood pressure,” Rob explained. “Being that I have that, that takes a lot out of a brother. Going on tour, you don’t even know. This is a real serious… I had a stroke. Yea, I had a stroke… and ummm, I got over that. It’s been high blood pressure and trying to stay on top of this thing.”
Bad Boy founder Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs – who Rob and Curry were at odds with for years – posted a tribute to Rob on his Instagram page. According to Curry, Rob and Diddy made amends before he died.
“Rest in power King @therealblackrob! As I listen to your records today there’s one thing that they all have in common! You have made millions of people all over the world feel good and dance! You are one of a kind! GOD BLESS! Love. You will be truly missed!!!!” Diddy wrote, along with a photo of them together in happier times.
