Who is Black Rob? Ex-Bad Boy rapper hospitalized, says 'the pain is crazy' as he struggles to breathe in video
Robert Ross — popularly known as 'Black Rob' — is currently in hospital, according to reports. The rapper, who was signed to the music label Bad Boy, was a cultural icon in the early 2000s, after his hit single 'Woah!'.
News of his hospitalization first came from New York radio personality DJ Self. Self put up an Instagram video of Rob in the hospital, where he could be seen clearly struggling to breathe. In the video, Rob could be faintly be heard saying, "The pain is crazy man... it’s helping me out though." There is no clarity on his health condition right now. Back in 2015, he had a stroke and spoke about it in an interview saying: "It ain’t no drugs. Lately, I had high blood pressure."
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In the same interview, he also added, "I had to change my health regimen and how I eat. That’s it. I’m exercising and trying to keep it up. I don’t drink no more. That right there was telling me that I had to stop."
Here's a look at the life of Black Rob, and how he rose from the streets to become a critical part of the rap movement in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Who is Black Rob?
Robert Ross was born in East Harlem, New York in 1969. He began rhyming and rapping as early as 11 or 12, inspired by Slick Rick and Doug E Fresh amongst others. In his early 20s, he was part of the group 'Schizophrenics', but never made any demos for labels. He rapped under the name 'Bacardi Rob', before turning to music seriously in late 1990. In 1987 he was reportedly jailed, but he never went into detail about it.
In 1996, he started associating with the Bad Boy label and went on to feature in several remixes. He made two appearances on Cru's 1997 album 'Da Dirty 30'. Into the early 2000s, he made several other guest appearances in albums by Ol Dirty Bastard, Channel Live, and The Madd Rapper. While these appearances generated a lot of media buzz, it was his solo work that really helped his career take off.
In 2000, he launched his debut album 'Life Story', and it quickly rose above platinum sales. He also released his hit single 'Woah!' which peaked at 43 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song also reached the top 10 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts. Unfortunately, fame and success were only temporary as his second album 'The Black Rob Report' in 2005 failed to generate the same buzz.
In 2004, he was accused of stealing more than $6,000 from a woman's purse in New York. He was sentenced to over seven years in prison for failing to attend his sentencing hearing in 2006. He was released in 2010. Billboard also reported that he had a stint in jail in 2000 for third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and a probation violation.
On his return, he parted ways with Bad Boy and signed to independent label Duck Down Records. This lead to a brief return to fame, with his 2011 album 'Game Tested, Streets Approved'. The album peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In 2013, he made an appearance on the show 'Come Back Kings'. In 2015, after he suffered a stroke due to high blood pressure, he released his last studio album, 'Geniune Article'.
Since then, the rapper has been mostly out of the public spotlight. He was working on a follow-up to his hit 'Life Story' called 'Life Story 2', but it is not clear when that album will release. Nonetheless, he has a dedicated fan following who were shocked to hear the news about his hospitalization. Many have posted messages praying for his recovery. We'll update you when we have more information about his condition.