Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock were a hip-hop duo from Harlem, New York who were best known for their 1988 tune "It Takes Two", a single that was a top 40 hit and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. A song from the duo's album of the same name, which also went platinum, it has been labeled by critics as one of the greatest old school hip hop tracks of all time. Consisting of Rob Base (born Robert Ginyard) and DJ E-Z Rock (born Rodney "Skip" Bryce), the duo also were pioneers of the crossover success that rap music would have in the popular music mainstream.
The two musicians grew up together in Harlem and were friends since the fourth grade. New York City was a hotbed of musical experimentation, and the duo started working on their own hip-hop tracks. Their first U.S. single and release was 1986's "DJ Interview". They signed a recording contract with Profile Records in 1987.
Based upon a 4 beat drum loop from Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)" which contained the now infamous "Wooo. Yeah." vocal sample, their magnum opus "It Takes Two" first became a regional hit and then slowly climbed the Hot 100, eventually peaking at #36 and picking up a platinum single certification. The song also peaked at #3 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
An album, also called It Takes Two, was quickly put together and it produced a significant follow-up hit, "Joy and Pain," which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. It also hit the Top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to #58 on the Hot 100. However, vicious rumors started to circulate that Rob Base had legal problems for using samples from Maze's Frankie Beverly for the hit "Joy and Pain". Moreover Rob began to have some personal problems at the same time. He responded in 1989 with The Incredible Base.
"Get On the Dance Floor," a track released to clubs in between the two singles, hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. One additional song hit the dance chart in late 1989: "Turn It Out (Go Base)," credited only to Rob Base.
By the end of 1989 Rob Base went on his own; DJ E-Z Rock was nowhere on the scene because of his personal issues.
Sadly, DJ E-Z Rock passed away on April 27, 2014. He was fondly remembered both by hip-hop fans and by the various musicians that he had worked with. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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