Image: Cindy Ord
Bob Power, the legendary New York hip-hop engineer, died at 74, leaving behind a sonic legacy that shaped some of the genre’s most iconic albums.
R.I.P. to one of the iLLest Engineers of all time…
Mr. BOB POWER.
Thank you for your various pointers in recording from D’angelo to ATCQ’S Low End Theory, Erykah Badu’s Baduizm and so on! 🫡🙏🏾🕊️— DJ Premier (@REALDJPREMIER) March 3, 2026
From A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory to D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar, as well as numerous artists like Erykah Badu, The Roots and more…His meticulous mixing gave hip-hop and R&B recordings depth, clarity, and warmth, influencing the sound of the 1990s and 2000s.
Many of the artists mentioned above noted, Power’s fingerprints are all over some of Hip Hop and R&B’s most important records. He’s credited on Badu’s “On & On,” A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation”, Common’s “The Light,” and The Roots’ “You Got Me.” Beyond India.Arie’s Acoustic Soul, he also earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Meshell Ndegeocello’s Peace Beyond Passion.
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Beyond the studio, Power mentored emerging engineers at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, passing on his craft to new generations.
