Black Rob, the New York City rapper who was formerly part of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Bad Boy label, has passed away, according to former label mate Mark Curry. He was 51.
Rob’s former label mate, Mark Curry, announced Rob’s death in two videos posted to Instagram on Saturday, and Variety has confirmed his passing through additional sources. “I don’t know where to start with this,” Curry said in the first video. “But I would like to thank everyone for the donations. Rob passed away about an hour ago. “
In a second video, Curry said he was with the rapper when he died. Rest in peace for my brother. I was there with him. I was there with him, ”Curry said.
“Puff, I haven’t spoken to Puff in 15 years – we talked today,” Curry continued, referring to Combs. “This is the beginning of a new we. Rob made sure he knew what to do before leaving this world to make sure everything was going well, and that’s what he did. Bad boy for life, yo. “
Rob’s cause of death has not been confirmed, although Rob’s friend DJ Self posted on Instagram that he suffered from kidney problems last week. On April 11, Curry and producer Mike Zombie started a GoFundMe to help Rob pay his medical bills. The next day, Curry said on Instagram that Rob had been released from the hospital and planned to visit him later to help with his recovery. In another video, Curry said Rob was on dialysis.
“This Gofundme is to help him find a home, pay for medical help and provide stability during these troubled times. We’ve lost a lot of legends and we can’t afford to lose anymore. This is my way of trying to help, ”reads the description. Donations poured in after the announcement of his death.
Born Robert Ross in Buffalo, NY, the Bad Boy rapper grew up in East Harlem, where he started rapping as a preteen. He released four studio albums, of which his most successful was his 2000 debut ‘Life Story’. Rob is perhaps best known for his hit single “Whoa!”, Which peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. Along with Curry, Rob was featured on Combs’ “Bad Boy 4 Life,” which hit number 33. Although he left Bad Boy Records in the mid-2000s, Rob reunited with the crew for selected dates from the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour in 2016.
Ellise Shafer contributed to this report.