“It Takes Two” performer DJ E-Z Rock dies at 46

(April 28, 2014) Rodney Bryce, known better to hip-hop fans as DJ E-Z Rock, has died at age 46. The cause of his death is currently unknown. While he released other songs together, it was his collaboration with Rob Base on the Teddy Riley-produced “It Takes Two” that brought the greatest fame, becoming one of the most popular and recognizeable hip-hop songs of all time.

“It Takes Two” used multiple samples from the James Brown and Lyn Collins 1972 song “Think (About It).” It shot to #3 on the charts, an auspicious first hit for the duo. An album, also called It Takes Two, was quickly put together and it produced a significant follow-up hit, “Joy and Pain,” which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, as well as “Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is” by The Olympic Runners. It also hit the Top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to #38 on the Hot 100. “Get On the Dance Floor,” a track released to clubs in between the two singles, hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989.

 
Boosted by those singles the It Takes Two album went platinum seven times over. Both internal and external problems caused the duo to splic, but they reunied for 1994’s album, Break of Dawn.
 
While Bryce’s moment in the sun was fairly brief, his merger of hip-hop and R&B sounds on his recordings was both fresh and influential.  More than a few future hip-hop hits would follow the template created on “It Takes Two” and “Joy and Pain.”  He will be missed.

 

Portions of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article DJ E-Z Rock.

Many thanks to Gary from Disco, Soul, Gold for letting us know about this.

 

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