Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Template:Short description Template:DMCA
Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2009) |
Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock | |
|---|---|
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Rob Base (left) and DJ E-Z Rock in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Script error: No such module "person date". |
| Origin | Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | Script error: No such module "person date". |
| Genres | Hip-hop |
| Years active | 1985–2014 |
| LabelTemplate:Pluralize from text | Page Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content.
|
| Past members | Rob Base DJ E-Z Rock |
Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip-hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base was the stage name of Robert Ginyard (May 18, 1967 – May 22, 2026) and DJ E-Z Rock was the stage name of Rodney "Skip" Bryce (May 8, 1967 – April 27, 2014).[1] They are best known for the 1988 single "It Takes Two", a "hip-hop staple"[2] that was a top 40 hit and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. That song was a part of the duo's album of the same name, which also has been certified platinum. They are known for being pioneers of the crossover success that rap music would have in the popular music mainstream.[3]
Career
_(cropped).jpg)
The duo's first U.S. single and release was "DJ Interview", appearing on World to World, which later got them a recording contract with Profile Records in 1987. The duo was assisted by a long-time friend from New Jersey, producer David Wynn. David Wynn produced three songs on their debut album and five on their sophomore album.[citation needed]
The first Profile release was "It Takes Two".[4] It used multiple samples from the James Brown and Lyn Collins 1972 song "Think (About It)".[4] The track first became a regional hit and then slowly climbed the Billboard Hot 100, picking up a multi-platinum single certification. The song also peaked at No. 3 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[citation needed]
Their album It Takes Two was quickly[quantify] assembled. It produced a notable follow-up hit, "Joy and Pain", which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, as well as "Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is" by the Olympic Runners.[4] It reached the top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to No. 58 on the Hot 100. "Get On the Dance Floor", which sampled "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" by The Jacksons, produced by David Wynn, was a track released to clubs in between the two singles. It hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. Boosted by those singles, the It Takes Two album went platinum seven times over.[citation needed]
Base responded in 1989 with The Incredible Base, his debut solo album.[4] It did not sell as well as It Takes Two.[4] One song from the album hit the dance chart in late 1989: "Turn It Out (Go Base)", credited only to Rob Base.
In 2008, their song "It Takes Two" was ranked number 37 on VH1's 100 greatest songs of hip hop.[5]
Personal lives
Rob Base was born Robert Ginyard on May 18, 1967.[1] In the fourth grade, he relocated in New York City from the Bronx to Harlem in Manhattan, where he became a classmate of DJ E-Z Rock.[6] He attended Harlem public schools and loved music. Influenced by rap, he performed in talent shows and at as many open mic or hip-hop events as possible. His first child was born in 1989 to his then-girlfriend Rhonda Dunbar, with whom he was in a relationship from 1986 to 1991. In 1991, Base met April, and in 1992, they had a son. They subsequently took guardianship of April's cousin. Base and April married and remained together until her death in September 2013.[7] Rob Base died from cancer on May 22, 2026, at the age of 59.[8]
DJ E-Z Rock was born Rodney "Skip" Bryce in 1967 and raised in Harlem.[9] He died on April 27, 2014, at the age of 46, after complications from diabetes.[2]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales threshold) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [10] |
US R&B [11] | |||
| 1988 | It Takes Two
|
31 | 4 | |
| 1994 | Break of Dawn
|
— | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Rob Base solo album
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales threshold) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [13] |
US R&B [14] | |||
| 1989 | The Incredible Base
|
50 | 20 |
US: Gold[12] |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] |
US Dance [16] |
US Rap [17] |
US R&B [18] |
UK [19] | ||||
| 1988 | "It Takes Two" | 36 | 3 | x | 17 | 24 | It Takes Two | |
| "Get on the Dance Floor" | — | 1 | 6 | 11 | 14 | |||
| "Joy and Pain" | 58 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 47 | |||
| 1989 | "Turn It Out (Go Base)" (as Rob Base) |
— | 23 | 4 | 16 | 88 | The Incredible Base | |
| 1990 | "Get Up and Have a Good Time" (as Rob Base) |
— | — | 9 | 28 | — | ||
| "Outstanding" (as Rob Base) |
— | — | 14 | — | — | |||
| 1994 | "Break of Dawn" | — | — | 18 | 110 | — | Break of Dawn | |
| 1999 | "Ready 2 Party" | — | — | — | — | — | (single only) | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. "x" denotes that chart did not exist at the time. | ||||||||
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Newman, Jason (April 27, 2014). "DJ E-Z Rock of 'It Takes Two' Fame Dead at 46". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "It Takes Two – Rob Base, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Colin Larkin, ed. (1998). "It Takes Two". The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 287–88. ISBN 0-7535-0252-6.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Macnie, Jim (September 24, 2008). "VH1′s 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Ever". VH1.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Emmanuel, C. M. (May 2, 2014). "Rob Base Remembers DJ E-Z Rock And The Making Of 'It Takes Two'". XXL. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Hip Hop Legend Rob Base". celebrityparentsmag.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2011.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Horowitz, Steven J. (May 22, 2026). "Rob Base, 'It Takes Two' Rapper, Dies at 59". Variety. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perrone, Pierre (May 5, 2014). "DJ E-Z Rock". Obituaries. The Independent. p. 50. Retrieved May 24, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c Script error: No such module "cite".
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Hot Rap Songs". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rob Base – Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ROB BASE & DJ E-Z ROCK | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
External links
- {{AllMusic}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
- Rob's Official justRHYMES.com profile – music, bio, videos & more
- Rob Base at IMDbTemplate:Edit at Wikidata
- DJ EZ Rock at IMDbTemplate:Edit at Wikidata
Template:Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.
