Bob Power

American studio engineer and multi-instrumentalist. Born January 2, 1952, Died March 1, 2026.

Well known for engineering and performing on an impressive string of acclaimed, creative hip hop releases from 1986 to 2026. He was instrumental in the studio careers of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, D'Angelo, and The Roots.

As a young musician, Bob first joined R & B band The New Direction, then formed the Jazz sextet Acapella Gold. Eventually, he took his guitar and toured the the United States to experience it, eventually finding himself in New York City. Landing a job at Calliope Studios as a fill-in engineer, the first record Bob Power engineers is Stetsasonic's classic debut LP, "On Fire", itself a pivotal mid-'80s transitional style hip hop album that came into being as rap and the hip hop culture evolved from old school into the new, creative "golden era" of the late 1980s and early '90s. Working on this album gained him an immediate connection to and alliance with creative wunderkind Prince Paul, DJ and producer of Stetsasonic. Power's connections, skills, and being in the right place (Calliope, the new incubator/epicenter of many creative NYC hip hop groups's studio efforts) at the right time (the birth of hip hop's "golden era") led readily to steady supply of creative engineering work for Bob with De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and eventually D'Angelo and The Roots. Operated his own studios in New York: Chez Bob.