Black Rob Video Sheds Light on Health and Hip Hop

The year was 2000, and one of the hottest songs in the country was Whoa from artist Black Rob. He was formerly signed to Bad Boy Records and was the newest artist to the label.

Fast-forward to 2021, and Black Rob has suffered a stroke, been in and out of the hospital, and is apparently homeless. With the recent passing of rapper DMX, it has me wondering what is going on with our legends. I have talked to a few rappers from back in the day, and they speak about the fast life and hectic schedules they had to endure.

There was a video released that had Black Rob in the hospital sending condolences to DMX, and now there is another one released that shows him being released from the hospital.

We have all heard the horror stories of some of these labels and how they manipulate and take from their artists. My question is, who is there to protect the artist, and are the artists truly understanding the paperwork that they are signing? Over the years, there have been reports of artists going bankrupt, becoming homeless, and the health issues many endure are more than ever. Is it too far-fetched to think of creating a union for these artists? Sure, there are the more established artists like Diddy, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, and others. But what about the artist with one or two hit songs who vanished and no one has heard from them again?

The passing of DMX was truly hard, as many, including myself, saw his rise and witnessed the hardships he has faced. But seeing this clip featuring Black Rob, who is basically without anything, is just sad to watch and know that, at one time, he was on top of the charts.

I am simply a Hip Hop DJ here in Lake Charles, but I do believe something needs to be done to help those artists from the past, and there need to be things put in place today to educate these new artists so they don't go through what others have. I hope I am here to see this happen sooner than later.