“It Takes Two” Rapper Rob Base Endured Many Tragedies But Here’s Where He Is Now
ILOSM family make some noise if y’all remember Rob Base. Most of us probably can’t even think of him without simultaneously rapping the lyrics to his and DJ EZ Rock’s mega 1988 classic, “It Takes Two”:
“It takes two to make a thing go ri-ight…it takes two to make it outta sight/I wanna rock right now, I’m Rob Base and I’m came to get down…”
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Rob Base, so we did a lil’ diggin’ to find out what’s been up with him. Unfortunately what we found was heartbreaking, yet also an inspiring testament of the New York MC’s perseverance.
Four Lives Loss In 3 Years
Rob Base, whose real name is Robert Ginyard, lost 4 people connected to him- either personally or through his music- in just a three year span, between 2013 to 2016.
Singer on “Joy & Pain” loss his life
In March 2013, the singer on Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s 90’s hit, “Joy & Pain,” Chandler “Omar” Spencer, succumbed to gun wounds after he was robbed inside his South Carolina apartment.
Rob Base loss his wife…
Rob Base’s beloved wife, April, passed away in October 2013. They were together for 23 years, up until the time of her passing from unnamed causes. They have three children, who Rob Base once expressed his gratitude for, years prior to his wife’s passing, in an interview with Celebrity Parents Magazine:
Rob Base: We have three children, Rob Jr., Dejene, and Dysell. We adopted Dysell when she was very young. She’s actually April’s little cousin, but we raised her since she was 2 years-old. She’s a really sweet kid. All three of them are good kids. We’re lucky.
Loses his rap partner, DJ E-Z Rock…
Approximately 6 months after losing his beautiful wife, Rob Base loss his rap partner and childhood friend, DJ E-Z Rock. Many of us may recall the countless times Base shouted out his DJ on wax, just like he did in “It Takes Two,” when he rapped: “‘Cause I’m cool, calm just like the breeze/Rock the mic with the help of E-Z Rock…”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiFriogHrpR/
Sadly, DJ E-Z Rock passed away in April 2014, from a diabetic seizure at the age of 46. Shortly after E-Z Rock’s passing, Rob Base reminisced about his longtime friend in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“He started getting sick in the Nineties sometime after our last album [1994’s Break of Dawn]. He had diabetes. His health was pretty much up and down for years. […] The last time I spoke to him was right before he went into the hospital for the last time. He was telling me a lot of the things he was going through and I was telling him, ‘I want you to come back out on the road.’ I was going through a situation myself where my wife had just passed away, so me and him were talking a lot and he was helping me get through my problems. […] He was in the hospital for nearly two months before he passed.”
Rob Base loss his cousin…
More tragedy struck in July 2016, when Rob Base’s 24 year old cousin, Ryan Ginyard, was a victim of gun violence. It happened just days before he was to graduate from The New York School for Medical and Dental Assistants in New York.
What Rob Base Is Doing Now
Through all of the tragedy that Rob Base has endure, the inspiring thing is that he keeps pushin’ forward. These days he is still performing across the country. Matter of fact, he still gets crowds hyped every time he hits the stage, just like he recently did during an Apollo performance with Kid N’ Play. Check it out above.
In addition to performing, Base also owns a creative arts company called RobLyn Productions:
