Influential DJ Who Helped Grow MySpace Music Dies at 43

Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias was a media and music pioneer known for championing up-and-coming Filipino American artists

Roslynn Alba Cobarrubias, a media entrepreneur, radio DJ and music promoter who helped grow the MySpace music platform, died Nov. 19, according to her family. She was 43.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Cobarrubias died in her hometown of Walnut, Calif. and that a cause of death has not yet been determined.

Cobarrubias grew up pursuing new artists and songs to share with friends, hoping one day to become a video jockey on TV's music channels. She carried this passion to college, becoming a radio DJ for Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut and eventually starting her own hip-hop show, where she interviewed artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and Talib Kweli.

As her show gained popularity, she began to promote it and the artists she liked on then-new music platform MySpace, which resulted in capturing the attention of the platform's founders, whom she eventually met through a colleague.

Cobarrubias went on to become a marketing head and led artist relations for MySpace, growing the platform and developing the concept of artists and fans sharing music.

In addition to helping promote the work of high-profile artists, Cobarrubias was dedicated to spotlighting up-and-coming Filipino American artists, working with Philippines-based media giant ABS-CBN and through her own marketing brand, 1587.

“She was passionate and dedicated to the Filipino American community worldwide, and would spend both her personal and professional life celebrating and uplifting it wherever she could,” Cobarrubias' family told the Los Angeles Times.

“She played a pivotal role in collaborations between acclaimed international artists and rising Filipino talent, helping guide them into the music industry spotlight.”