Rapper Black Rob, known for hit ‘Whoa!’, Died at the age of 52

NEW YORK (AP) – Rapper Black Rob, known for his hit “Whoa!” and major contributors to Diddy’s dominant Bad Boy Records in the 1990s and early 2000s have passed away. He was 52.

Black Rob died in Atlanta on Saturday, according to longtime friend and former labelmate Mark Curry, who said he held the hip-hop artist’s hand at the end. He had been hospitalized and had multiple health problems in recent years and died of cardiac arrest, Curry said.

“Rest to power, King,” Diddy wrote on Instagram. “You have made millions of people around the world feel good and dance!”

Born Robert Ross and raised in Harlem, New York City, Black Rob started rapping even before he became a teenager. After signing with Bad Boy, he made notable guest appearances alongside label mates in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Diddy’s “Bad Boy for Life” and remixes of Total’s “What About Us” and 112’s “Come See Me”.

He spun a 13 bar story of revenge on the 1998 posse cut “24 Hrs. To Live” alongside DMX, which died earlier this month.

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His debut album “Life Story,” released in 2000, peaked at number 3 on the Billboard charts and went platinum, led by the catchy single “Whoa!”

“” Ho! ” has taken us through an important point of our time in hip-hop, ”said Curry. “He always felt like he was taking 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 troubles. He served four years in prison in connection with a hotel robbery in 2004.

Curry said Diddy Black had helped Rob financially and paid for the rapper’s funeral over the years.

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