What happened to Big Black? How did Christopher Boykin of MTV's 'Rob & Big' die?

Christopher Boykin famously known for his stage name Big Black was an American musician and television personality best known for his role in MTV's Rob & Big, in which he shared screen space with skateboarder and entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek. Big Black on MTV's Rob & Big played the role of Rob's bodyguard in the show from 2006 to 2008. In May 2017, news of Big Black's death broke out. Find out what happened to Big Black.

What happened to Big Black?

Big Black was a part of the MTV show for 19 episodes before the show ended abruptly because of the friction between the two stars, reports Huff Post. The report also shared that the reality star had a defibrillator implant for his heart. In early May 2017, he was hospitalized in Plano, Texas, and was placed on a heart monitor. On May 9, his heart stopped and the staff spent 30 minutes trying to revive him however they were unable to. He was 45 years old when he died of a heart attack. Big Black Boykin is survived by his daughter Isis Rae Boykin who was nine at the time of his death. 

More about Big Black on MTV show Rob & Big

The star rose to fame in 2006 after he and Rob Dyrdek started performing harmless pranks and having boisterous fun on the pair’s reality show. While the show ended after they had a falling out, Rob Dyrdek in an interview with Graham Bensinger in 2016 opened up about the same and said that they both struggled with the fame and had different dynamics when it came to handling it. He shared that though the transition was a bit smooth for him as he was a professional skateboarder and had handled fame before, it was difficult for Christopher as he was a working security guard two years earlier and suddenly he found mainstream fame after appearing on television. He further explained that, while he did not want to be recognised as Rob from Rob & Big, Christopher did not want to be known as his sidekick which led to a big blowout between them. While Rob maintained that they were both paid equally at that time, there were a lot of creative differences that came up between them which led them to end the show. However, they reconciled later and Big Black made an appearance in Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory.

After Big Black's death, Rob wrote a heartful message for him and said that he will forever be in his heart.

IMAGE: AP