Some sad news broke over the weekend. Yesterday (April 27), it was confirmed that DJ EZ Rock (of Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock fame) passed away. The Harlem, New York DJ/producer and onetime Profile Records artist is known as a pillar within the late ’80s/early ’90s “Hip-House” movement, where Hip-Hop and Electronic Dance music fused together for a series of hit singles and albums, embraced both in the Rap and House communities.

Rob Base, via Facebook and Instagram, confirmed the news yesterday, noting that he’d known “Skip” (aka Rodney “Skip” Pierce, or EZ Rock) since the pair was in fourth grade together. He was 46 years old.

In 1988, the Uptown duo released a platinum single and subsequent album, both titled It Takes Two. A year later, Profile released a gold-certified follow-up, The Incredible Base. In 1994, the pair’s swan-song Break Of Dawn released on Rob’s Funky Base imprint. Other hits included the Frankie Beverly & Maze-loose cover, “Joy & Pain,” which reached the charts again in 1989, thanks to the tribute.

Although it had been 20 years since Rob and Rock released an album, the pair had performed in concert together in recent years.

The cause of death is unknown at this time.

Ambrosia For Heads extends condolences to the family, friends, and fans of DJ EZ Rock, as well as Rob Base.

Related: Hip-Hop may never have been anything more than a fad without Profile Records, the 6th most important Rap record label of all time (Playlist)