Overview
- Rob Base died peacefully on May 22, 2026 after a private battle with cancer, the family announced on his official Instagram account.
- He rose to fame as one half of Rob Base & DJ E‑Z Rock and scored a lasting crossover hit with 1988’s “It Takes Two,” a platinum-certified single that reached No. 3 on Billboard’s dance chart and has been widely sampled and used in films.
- Base and DJ E‑Z Rock met as children in Harlem, signed with Profile Records in 1987, and helped blend hip‑hop and dance music for mainstream audiences; DJ E‑Z Rock died in 2014 from complications of diabetes.
- In later years Base continued to perform on package nostalgia tours, ran the production company Funky Base, Inc., mentored emerging artists and served as an executive producer on the 2025 film Urban Flesh Eaters.
- Tributes from peers and fans have poured in since the announcement, with coverage stressing both his cultural impact through a single defining song and his role as a working artist and mentor in later life.