Ross grew up in Harlem and began rapping between the age of 11 and 12. He was inspired by the artists he listened to regularly, including Spoonie Gee, Doug E. Fresh, and Slick Rick. When he was 22, he joined his first rap group, the Schizophrenics, though they did not release any albums. He initially rapped under the alias "Bacardi Rob".\n', '

He began associating with the Bad Boy label as early as 1996, appearing on the Bad Boy remix to 112\'s "Come See Me". He was then featured on several Bad Boy releases, including remixes to Total\'s "What About Us" (1997) and Faith Evans\'s "Love Like This" (1998), the song "24 Hrs. to Live" (1997) from Mase, and albums by Puff Daddy & the Bad Boy Family (1997) and The Notorious B.I.G. (1999). He also made two appearances on Cru\'s 1997 album Da Dirty 30, as well as albums by Ol Dirty Bastard, Channel Live, The Madd Rapper, Benzino, Tony Touch, and others. These guest appearances earned him media buzz.\n', '

In early 2000, he released the hit single "Whoa!". Produced by Diggin\' in the Crates Crew member Buckwild, "Whoa!" became his biggest hit. The song peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 10 on both the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts. To date, it remains Rob\'s only solo single to have reached the Hot 100. His album Life Story was released in 1999 and rose above platinum sales. Despite subsequently appearing on releases by P. Diddy and G. Dep, he did not make another hit single. His second album, The Black Rob Report failed to perform as strongly as his debut and quickly fell off the Billboard 100 charts. In his earlier years, Black Rob headed the street rap team which he named "Alumni". In 2005, Jemal Mosley from Off The Block Entertainment started managing Black Rob\'s career. In 2010, he parted from Bad Boy and signed to independent label Duck Down Records. In 2011, he released Game Tested, Streets Approved, which peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.\n', '

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