Legendary music engineer and record producer, Bob Power has passed away. He was 74.

In his historic career, he contributed to classic albums such as A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar, and Erykah Badu’s Baduizm, all of which were engineered at New York studios.

​After earning degrees in music theory and jazz from Webster College and Lone Mountain College, Power began scoring music for television and advertisements. Eventually, he began engineering at New York’s Calliope Studios in the mid-1980s, working on Stetsasonic’s On Fire album. He became the go-to sonic architect for the Native Tongues collective, most notably for his work on A Tribe Called Quest’s landmark album, The Low End Theory.

​Power pioneered techniques for mixing complex sample-based arrangements with heavy, clear bass. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he contributed to projects made by Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, The Roots, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Common, and De La Soul. Before his passing, Power Associate Arts Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music,
DJ Premier confirmed the news of Power’s passing in a post on social media, lauding him for his work on numerous classic 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

 

Questlove also paid tribute to Power on Instagram.​

“You could NOT encounter a more engaging, enthusiastic, laser-focused craftsman of sound and Sonic’s (engineer/mixing/production). I mean, he’d let me bug him ad nauseam about “what does this button do? that button? Bob was our training wheels for how to present music,” Quest wrote. I’m so devastated by his passing. Thank you for changing all of our lives, Bob.”

 

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A post shared by Questlove (@questlove)

Struggling to find the words for this loss. A giant. A genius. A kind generous soul. A teacher. A legend. I met Bob when D’Angelo was making Brown Sugar one floor down from my office at Zomba in 1993. I was a 22 year old baby exec aspiring to become an A&R, and Michael (as I knew… https://t.co/fISkxToimp

— Drew Dixon (@deardrewdixon) March 3, 2026

🕊️ Thank You Bob https://t.co/GQMedaOpbm pic.twitter.com/P9mTzgDnfG

— De La Soul (@WeAreDeLaSoul) March 3, 2026

RIP Bob .. You, Lisle (RIP), Scott and Ira were the real Fantastic Four. Your skill set held hands with your humanity. You taught us all and we are better artists behind it. You shall always be #NativeTongue and #Loved

— Dres (@DresBlacksheep) March 3, 2026