JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Hip-hop pioneer Rob Base died last week after a battle with cancer. And if you were on a dance floor in the late '80s and 90s, anywhere from middle school to the club, odds are this song made you move.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT TAKES TWO")
LYN COLLINS: (Singing) It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it out of sight.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Along with his musical partner and childhood best friend, DJ E-Z Rock, who died in 2014, Rob Base mixed hip-hop and house music in the breakthrough hit in 1988, "It Takes Two."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT TAKES TWO")
ROB BASE: (Rapping) I want to rock right now. I'm Rob Base, and I came to get down. I'm not internationally known, but I'm known to rock the microphone.
SUMMERS: Base may not have been internationally known when he recorded those lines, but he certainly was after "It Takes Two." A memorial post on his Instagram account reads, beyond the stage, he was a loving father, family man, friend and creative force whose impact will never be forgotten.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT TAKES TWO")
BASE: (Rapping) 'Cause I'm cool, calm just like a breeze. Rock the mic with the help of EZ.
DETROW: The chart-topping song catapulted the duo into hip-hop stardom, and the beat and lyrics spread across the culture.
SUMMERS: Jay-Z channeled "It Takes Two" on his feature in Snoop Dogg's "I Want To Rock."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT TO ROCK")
JAY-Z: (Rapping) Hold up. I want to rock right now. My name is Hov, and I came to shake the town.
DETROW: So did the Black Eyed Peas in the song "Rock That Body."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCK THAT BODY")
BLACK EYED PEAS: (Rapping) I want to rock right now. I want to, I want to rock right now.
SUMMERS: And it popped up in TV shows and films like "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE PROPOSAL")
RYAN REYNOLDS: (As Andrew Paxton, rapping) I'm not internationally known. But I'm...
(As Andrew Paxton, singing) It takes two to make a thing go right.
DETROW: In the 1990 interview with "Slammin' Rap Video Magazine," Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock talked about the inspiration for their sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BASE: Well, I feel like the music is hype - long as the music is fast, long as the music is good enough for the people to dance to.
DJ E-Z ROCK: Yeah.
BASE: And with a nice hook on it, you know, once you throw it on at a party, the crowd will just get up and dance to it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GET ON THE DANCE FLOOR")
BASE: (Rapping) And I want to move you. Let the beats just groove you. Clap your hands, don't front. 'Cause this is what you want. Get on the dance floor.
SUMMERS: Base and DJ E-Z Rock even brought the dance floor to church with another hit, "Joy And Pain."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOY AND PAIN")
BASE: (Rapping) Move away 'cause I just won't slack up.
OMAR CHANDLER: (Singing) Joy.
BASE: (Rapping) Pump it up, pump it up.
CHANDLER: (Singing) And pain.
BASE: (Rapping) Come on, come on, here we go.
CHANDLER: (Singing) Like sunshine.
BASE: (Rapping) What else? What else?
CHANDLER: (Singing) And rain. Sing it now, God's children.
DETROW: Friends across the hip-hop world, like Grandmaster Flash and MC Lyte, are sharing tributes to Rob Base, remembering him as a gentleman who was electric on stage and made important contributions to hip-hop music and culture. Rob Base was 59 years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOY AND PAIN")
BASE: (Rapping) One, two, three, get funky.
CHANDLER: (Singing) Here we go, Rob Base now. Joy (vocalizing). Oh, yeah. Come on. Come on. Come on. Joy.
BASE: (Rapping) Pump it up, pump it up.
CHANDLER: (Singing) And pain.
BASE: (Rapping) Keep it going, keep it going.
CHANDLER: (Singing) Like sunshine.
BASE: (Rapping) Yeah.
CHANDLER: (Singing) And rain. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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