DMX and Shock G were huge losses, but Black Rob was more personal for us. A Harlem native who first landed on our radar when our boys CRU brought him up to WKCR, Rob was always as cool as the other side of the pillow, and underrated as an emcee and story teller. Rob came up to Hot 97 as well (can't remember if that was Stretch and Bobbito or for solo Stretch). In fact, I was the first person to play "Whoa" on the radio, having gotten it on DAT from Buckwild. Man, that record had NYC on smash.
This show, from March of 1997, despite being late in our show's history, is evidence that we were still having a lot of fun on the air, despite some of our differences. There are some dumb funny live phone calls and over two hours of music, many world premiers, and a live session from Black Rob and CRU.
Rob and I became friends, and I'm really saddened to learn about the circumstances under which he passed.
- Stretch