Rest in peace, Black Rob. The "Whoa!" rapper has died, according to his former label mate, Mark Curry. He was 51.
Curry mourned Rob's death on Instagram on Saturday. "I don’t know where to begin this," he said in the first video. "But I thank everybody for the donations. Rob passed away about an hour ago."
"Rest in peace to my brother. I was there with him [when he died]," he added in another video.
Rob was formerly part of Sean "Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy label. In his video, Curry said he had spoken to the music mogul. "This is the beginning of a new us. Rob made sure he knew what he had to do before he parted this world to make sure we all alright, and that’s what he did. Bad boy for life, yo."
Rob's friend DJ Self shared on social media that the rapper was suffering from kidney issues last week. A fundraiser for Rob's medical bills was started on GoFundMe on April 11. "We've lost a lot legends and we can’t afford to lose anymore," the description reads. "This is my way to try and help."
Donations have poured in, with $29,000 raised as of Sunday.
Rob was born Robert Ross in Buffalo, New York; he grew up in East Harlem, where he started rapping as a kid. The artist went on to release four studio albums and is best known for "Whoa!," which peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. Rob and Curry were both featured on Diddy's "Bad Boy 4 Life." Rob left Bad Boy Records in the mid-2000s, but reunited with the group for several dates on the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour in 2016.
See more on stars we've lost in the video below.
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