FEATURES
When you think of hip-hop artists from the ‘90s, whose music spontaneously moves the crowd to the dance floor, Chubb Rock is one of a few that immediately come to mind. “Nineteen ninety Chubb
Rock jumps up on the scene with a lean and a pocket full of green…” – His 1990 hit “Treat ‘Em Right” still elicits a great response from crowds.
Born Richard Simpson, on May 28, 1968 in Jamaica, West Indies, the cousin of Hitman Howie Tee, with whom he collaborated at the beginning of his career, moved to New York at an early age. A rap
colossus, his ample frame and smooth style has seen him compared with Barry White. This former National Merit Scholar bounced onto the rap scene after dropping out of the prestigious Brown
University where he was studying to become a doctor.
By the dawn of the 90s interest in Chubb Rock had escalated to the point at which he was achieving regular Billboard hits. His 1991 release entitled The One, reached #13 on Billboard’s “Top Hip-Hop/
R&B” chart for that year. Three singles from that release, “Treat ‘Em Right”, “Just The Two Of Us” and “The Chubbster”, made it to #1 on Billboard’s “Top Rap Single” chart list for the same year.
The following year saw the release of I Gotta Get Mine Yo, a release which features guest performances from Grand Puba Maxwell, Poke, and Rob Swinga. This release also helped fledgling music
producers Trackmasters, on their rise to prominence, as they handled production duties on the recording. Chubb Rock also makes an appearance on MC Serch’s 1992 song, “Back to The Grill.”
Chubb Rock was also a member of the 1995 incarnation of the Crooklyn Dodgers, a rap act that also featured O.C and Jeru The Damaja. The Mind was his 1997
comeback, but despite the rapper gaining critical respect for his endearing lyrical style the album’s sound was too old school to make much of an impact.
In 1996, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others. The
album, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African-American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine.
Chubb Rock dedicated his album The Grown and Sexy Theory to his late wife Carla Taylor-Simpson who died in 2006, after battling cancer. The rap star says the
album fulfills a promise he made to his wife before she passed away - and he doesn’t care if it is a commercial success. He tells Allhiphop.com, “It was actually made
because of a promise I made to my wife. She passed in 2006 from cancer. It makes you not take life for granted. She was younger than me, in perfect health. She
didn’t like how music was going. She was a hip-hop fan to the fullest. But she’d turn on the radio and be like ‘What’s this’. So I’m doing this for her. I don’t care if
this record sells.”
In 2008, his single “Treat ‘Em Right” was ranked number 82 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Chubb Rock also released Obama We Believe in
support of President Barack Obama. February 2009 Chubb Rock can be heard on his new single “Back In” featuring Wordsmith and Kimia Collins. His
latest album Bridging The Gap, a collaboration with Wordsmith, was released on July 14, 2009.
Chubb Rock is featured in the new single “Summertime Anthem” by Eric Roberson in which they filmed the video on the streets of Bed-Stuy,
Brooklyn, New York where he credited his current wife and manager, KeKe Simpson, for putting the duo together. Chubb Rock also released a new
EP in September 2011.
In 2013, Chubb Rock along with fellow veteran rapper/TV actor Ice-T launched the Male Awareness Foundation, a non-profit aimed at
promoting men’s health by way of early cancer screenings, among other things. Ice-T’s longtime manager Mickey Bentson, his wife, Toya
Bentson, and Dr. Annie Ford are also behind the launch of the New England-based foundation. It’s reported that Ice-T and Chubb Rock will
serve as the organization’s spokespersons.
In an interview with Steve Harvey, comedian, actor, and host of the Steve Harvey Morning Show, Chubb Rock received high praise
from Steve for strongly demonstrating his manhood with maturity, decorum and self respect. He was also recently applauded, on
air, by Michael Baisden, author, playwright, and radio show host, for providing the listening audience with hip-hop music that our
children can listen too with us, without lyrics filled with stories of violence, drugs, or other offensive behavior. After Chubb
Rock’s performance on Michael Baisden’s Manhattan Anniversary Boat Ride, the “Bad Boy of Radio” proclaimed that “Chubb
turned the party out and was the highlight of the evening.”
Chubb Rock along with DJ Bent Roc can be heard every Saturday on ‘Diggin’ In Tha Crates’ from 7pm to 9pm on Atlanta’s
WAMJ Majik 107.5/97.5 except Saturday June