Rob Base Dead at 59 — The Voice Behind ‘It Takes Two’ Loses His Private Battle With Cancer

Rob Base dies aged 59 and the soundtrack of a generation just lost one of its most joyful voices.

Robert Ginyard passed away on May 18, just days after his 59th birthday. His family confirmed he had been fighting cancer privately. He died surrounded by them. The statement on his Instagram said thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that became the soundtrack to our lives. That is not hype. Anyone who has ever been on a dancefloor when It Takes Two dropped knows exactly what those words mean.

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Base was a Harlem kid who caught lightning in a bottle with his childhood friend Rodney Bryce, better known as DJ E-Z Rock. The two met in fourth grade. They released their first single in 1986. Two years later, they changed everything.

It Takes Two came together almost by accident. They were at a friend’s house digging through records. They found a Lyn Collins sample they liked. They had studio time that night with nothing prepared. They went in anyway. What came out was a track that hit number three on the Billboard dance charts, went platinum, and never really stopped playing. Base told Rolling Stone in 2014 that they had no idea it would cross over and become as big as it did.

The song became a cultural freight train. Snoop Dogg sampled it. The Black Eyed Peas sampled it. It soundtracked a scene in The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. It was featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Millions of people who have never heard the name Rob Base have heard his voice telling them to hit it.

Tributes started pouring in immediately. Comedian Dane Cook wrote that Base was internationally known and he did rock the microphone. NFL legend Deion Sanders called him a legend. That word gets thrown around too easily. For Rob Base, it fits.

E-Z Rock passed away in 2014 from complications related to diabetes. He was 56. The duo is now reunited. The music they made together will outlive both of them.

Base was more than It Takes Two. He was a father. A creative force. A piece of hip-hop history that never chased trends because he helped set them. The private battle is over. The music stays.