Rob Base, born Robert Ginyard on May 18, 1967, died on May 22, 2026, surrounded by family after a private battle with cancer, four days after celebrating his 59th birthday. The Harlem-raised rapper was one half of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, the duo whose 1988 single “It Takes Two” became one of hip-hop’s most enduring and widely sampled records, a platinum-certified cultural touchstone that crossed over from the dance charts into the mainstream and never really left.
He and DJ E-Z Rock, born Rodney Bryce, met as kids in Harlem and built their partnership from the ground up, inspired by watching a local group called the Crash Crew. “We said to ourselves, this is something that we want to do,” Base recalled years later. The demo for “It Takes Two” came together in about two nights at a friend’s house after they stumbled across the Lyn Collins sample. They didn’t expect it to travel beyond the tri-state area. It went platinum and changed hip-hop history.
Built around a vocal sample from Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It),” the track blended hip-hop and house music in a way that felt genuinely new, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Songs chart. The follow-up “Get on the Dance Floor” topped the same chart. Their debut album ‘It Takes Two’ went platinum seven times over and landed at number 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
The song’s cultural reach extended far beyond music. “It Takes Two” was sampled by Snoop Dogg, Gang Starr, and 2NE1, appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Proposal, and Iron Man 2, and landed at number 24 on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time. Rolling Stone described it as “a pop-rap landmark and an ode to understanding and respect that brought people together under a groove.”
Base released his solo debut ‘The Incredible Base’ in 1989, then reunited with E-Z Rock for 1994’s ‘Break of Dawn’. He remained active as a live performer through the I Love the 90’s Tour and was working as executive producer on films through his production company Funky Base, Inc. DJ E-Z Rock died on April 27, 2014, from complications of diabetes at age 46.
His son, Rob Ginyard Jr., shared news of the death on Instagram with a simple, direct message: “Sleep in peace dad. I love you.” The official statement from his team described him as a loving father, family man, and creative force. “Thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that became the soundtrack to our lives.”