The rapper reportedly died in Atlanta hospital on Saturday. On April 10, radio personality DJ Self shared a video confirming that the star, who was born as Robert Ross, was in the hospital.
Tributes for the musician streamed in on social media on Saturday, and fans and fellow artists remembered his life’s work.
Hip-hop artist Marcel Theo Hall, better known by his stage name Biz Markie, paid tribute to the late rapper in a tweet with old photos of him.
He wrote: “RIP Black Rob, one of the great millennium rap novelists, gruff but with Harlem dexterity who took fire and brimstone to briefly reach the top before gravity and the law came into effect.
“Of course, ‘Whoa’ who owned the world for a whole year, the platonic tunnel banger.”
Another person added, “RIP to one of Bad Boy’s best storytellers, Black Rob.”
A third commenter said, “Black Rob deserves better being of this world. I pray his suffering will come to an end.
“I’m glad he could speak and be seen before he died.
“Its visibility and condition should be a reminder to value health and not to leave behind the sick and aging.
“Godspeed, sir.”