Rob Base in Concert
The year was 1988 and Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock had created a song called "It Takes Two," hoping that it'd become a regional hit. Little did they know, 30 years later the single would become part of the mainstream hip-hop canon on the strength of its distinct ability to instantly galvanize a crowd. Since DJ EZ Rock's passing in 2014, Rob Base carries on the pair's legacy as a solo act, and "It Takes Two" is always at the center of his shows. Base even performed the track at halftime of the 2017 NBA Finals Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. A long-standing part of the rotating lineup of the I Love The 90s Tour, featuring '90s hip-hop legends like Salt N' Pepa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Tone Loc, Young MC, All 4 One, Color Me Badd, Kid ‘n Play and fellow New Yorker Biz Markie, Base also joined Salt-N-Pepa for a hip-hop residency in Las Vegas. Immortalized in everything from the radio to the popular Jock Jams Vol. 1 album, "It Takes Two" still follows Base everywhere and the rapper is proud of that. "The song got real big and other rappers would say, ‘You sold out,'" Base told Rolling Stone in 2014. "At the time, we were really hurt by that, but 25 years later, it's still going strong. It's one of the greatest hip-hop songs ever made. That's just a fact."
Rob Base Background
Harlem's Rob Base (Robert Ginyard) and DJ EZ Rock (Rodney "Skip" Bryce) met in the fourth grade and instantly became inseparable. The class clowns soon discovered hip-hop by watching rap crews perform in the park, and formed their crew in 1985. Their 1988 debut album, It Takes Two went seven times platinum and featured four charting singles, including the title track, plus "Get On," "Joy and Pain" and "Turn It Out (Go Base)." DJ EZ Rock passed away of complications from diabetes in 2014, and Rob Base continues to perform their songs as a solo act.
