Christopher "Big Black" Boykin (January 13, 1972 – May 9, 2017) was an American television personality and musician best known for his role on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Rob & Big'', in which he co-starred with professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. ...

Rob Dyrdek Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows '' Rob & Big'', '' Rob Dy ...

from 2006 to 2008.

Early life

Boykin was born on January 13, 1972, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and grew up in Raleigh, Mississippi. He graduated from Stone High School in

Wiggins, Mississippi Wiggins is a city in and the county seat of Stone County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport– Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,272 at the 2020 census. History Wiggins is named ...

in 1990, and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Television career

In a skit for

DC Shoes DC Shoes is an American company that specializes in footwear for action sports, including skateboarding and snowboarding. The company also manufactures apparel, bags, accessories, hats, tshirts, and posters. History The company was founded in ...

, professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek hired Boykin to be his bodyguard and to protect him from security guards. From November 2006 to April 2008, he and Dyrdek starred in the

'' Rob & Big'' on

. In a 2006 episode of ''Rob & Big'', Dyrdek and Boykin visit the studios of game developer

EA Black Box EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games) was a video game developer based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1998 by former employees of Radical Entertainment and later acquired by Electronic Arts (EA). The developers are primarily k ...

in Vancouver to do

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

for a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

in which they were to become characters. The game, ''

Skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

'', was published in 2007. Boykin and Dyrdek also appeared in the 2009 sequel, ''

Skate 2 ''Skate 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide in January 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 after the spin-off title '' Skate It''. It is the sequel to 2007 ...

''. In 2007, Boykin launched a clothing brand, Big Black, to market T-shirts and hats that bore his catchphrase, "Let's Do Work". In the show's 2008 season, Boykin set two

Guinness world records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

: one for peeling and eating three bananas in one minute, and another for eating five powdered doughnuts in two minutes, 45 seconds. Boykin left ''Rob & Big'' after the third season, since he was starting a family. MTV premiered ''

Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory ''Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory'' is an American reality television series that aired on MTV from February 8, 2009, to March 5, 2015. On September 17, 2013, it was announced that ''Fantasy Factory'' was renewed for a sixth season, which premier ...

'' in February 2009, less than a year after the final episode of ''Rob & Big''. Boykin joined the cast in 2011, and remained until the show's final episode in 2015. He also appeared on three episodes of Dyrdek's show '' Ridiculousness'', which premiered in 2011. Guest appearances on the MTV series ''

Guy Code ''Guy Code'' is an American reality comedy television series on MTV2. The series debuted on November 15, 2011, and features various pop culture entertainers, top comics, athletes, and specialized experts who tell the story of the special code of ...

'' and ''Snack Off'' (2014) are among his other TV appearances.

Final years

Boykin married Shannon Turley in 2008; although the couple divorced in 2009, they were living together shortly before Boykin's death, due to his worsening health. Their daughter, Isis, was nine years old when Boykin died in May 2017. Boykin had a defibrillator implant for his heart. In early May 2017, he was hospitalized in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

, and was placed on a heart monitor. On May 9, his heart stopped; staff spent 30 minutes trying to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 4:00 p.m. CDT. Although initial reports did not mention an official cause, Boykin's heart failure was the result of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boykin, Christopher 1972 births 2017 deaths People from Raleigh, Mississippi United States Navy sailors Participants in American reality television series African-American television personalities Place of death missing 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American United States Navy personnel