Robert Ford Jr.

Robert "Rocky" Ford Jr. (June 30, 1949 – May 19, 2020) was an American journalist and record producer. While working for Billboard in 1978, Ford wrote the first article about hip-hop to appear in any major publication. He went on to produce albums and write songs for acts including Kurtis Blow, Rodney Dangerfield, and Full Force, and has been recognized as having played "a crucial role in early commercial hip-hop". His family later moved to St. Albans, Queens, and he became friends with Larry Smith while attending Andrew Jackson High School there. After graduating, he briefly attended Queensborough Community College. He met with DJ Kool Herc and learned that DJs were buying up these records in order to play short drum breaks in the songs on repeat at parties. On July 1 of that year, Billboard ran his article about the trip, titled "B-Beats Bombarding Bronx: Mobile DJ Starts Something With Oldie R&B Disks", which is now widely considered to be the first article about hip-hop in a major publication. In May 1979, Ford published "Jive Talking N.Y. DJs Rapping Away in Black Discos", which focused on DJs like Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood, Kurtis Blow, and Lovebug Starski that rapped while spinning records. The duo gave the song to rapper Kurtis Blow, who Ford met while working on his "Jive Talking N.Y. DJs..." article. Ford began taking Russell to industry events, encouraged him to become a record producer, and encouraged Blow to hire Russell as a manager.

Death and legacy Ford died in Brooklyn on May 19, 2020. He received obituaries in The New York Times, Pitchfork, and Billboard, with the latter publishing multiple retrospectives on his reporting. Blow said about Ford: "He taught me how to be a man. I was very shy; he brought me out of that and turned me into this incredible performer"; Russell Simmons said that Ford "taught [him] the value of selling the truth".

Selected production discography

Deuce (1981) – Kurtis Blow Rappin' Rodney (1983) – Rodney Dangerfield Ego Trip (1984) – Kurtis Blow Full Force (1985) – Full Force Full Force Get Busy 1 Time! (1986) – Full Force