Rob Base, rapper behind It Takes Two, dies at 59 after cancer battle

Rob Base, whose booming delivery helped turn “It Takes Two” into one of hip-hop’s most durable crossover records, died at 59 after a cancer battle. The song made Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock a fixture of late-1980s rap’s breakthrough into mainstream pop and dance radio.

He died on May 22, 2026, surrounded by family, four days after celebrating his 59th birthday on May 18. A statement posted to his social media said his “music, energy, and legacy helped shape a generation” and brought joy to millions. Promoter Van Silk said the cause was lung cancer.

Born Robert Ginyard in the Bronx and raised in Harlem, Base met his future partner, Rodney Bryce, in the fourth grade. The two became Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, one of early rap’s most recognizable duos, rooted in New York City at a moment when hip-hop was moving from block parties and club circuits into the wider commercial market.

Their 1988 debut album, It Takes Two, arrived on Profile Records and was built around the title track that carried the group’s name far beyond rap’s core audience. The single became a top-40 hit and was certified platinum by the RIAA, while the album itself also went platinum. For many listeners, the record was a gateway: hard enough for rap fans, polished enough to cross into pop and dance spaces without losing its street-level force.

Base extended that momentum with his 1989 solo album, The Incredible Base, which was certified gold. He never matched the scale of “It Takes Two,” but the song’s reach kept him in the public ear for decades. In later years, he remained active as a live performer on nostalgia circuits, including the I Love the 90’s Tour, where the record’s opening bars still drew the kind of response that few singles from that era could sustain.

His longtime partner DJ E-Z Rock died in 2014, ending a partnership that helped define a pivotal chapter in hip-hop’s mainstream rise. Base’s death closes that chapter, but “It Takes Two” remains its clearest calling card: a platinum anthem that helped show how rap could dominate radio, clubs, and the broader pop conversation at once.