Along with his brother Future, Atlanta’s Rocko is still doin’ him. Hit the jump to find out what he’s got cooking now.
HHW: How did you first get into music?
Rocko: I first got into music just goin’ by my cousin’s studio, just hangin’ out. Hangin’ around the studio and everything, I kinda like, fell in love with everything. I was just fascinated by the studio, the lights, the way everything worked. How you go in and make somethin’ from nothin’ – I was always fascinated by that. I come from nothin’ and I made somethin’ of myself. I’m one of the few that made somethin’ of themselves from where I’m from.
Where are you from? What was the music scene like growing up?
I’m from the southwest side of Atlanta, Zone 4. You got people like Outkast, they from like East Point, that’s real close to where I’m from, but it’s another city. They’re probably the closest. That’s really about it; Outkast, Goodie Mob, but they was from another city, so it was a different situation. They had a major influence on us ‘cause they let us know that it could be done.
How did you become an artist?
It’s really funny, I always had fun in the studio. Growin’ up, ever since elementary school, we always wrote rhymes and rapped. It was all fun and games, but when I got the studio, that was my second home. In the studio, it’s a collective effort, everybody tryina make somethin’ from nothin’. So, you hear a beat, you tryina get a vibe goin’, this person may say somethin’, that person may say somethin’. He may have a melody… and I used to be soakin’ up game, so I started goin’ in there just messin’ around recordin’, just to hear myself on a beat… you know, just playin’ around. Then I ventured off into other things. I wanna say it was ‘06 when I decided I wanted to get back into it. I tried to find me a few artists, and it was kinda hard to find somebody to invest your money into. You know you work hard for your money. You don’t wanna invest in somebody who don’t want it as bad as you want it, so my lil brother, now he’s one of the hottest rappers in the South right now up and comin’ – Future. He was like, “Man, I’m tired of partyin’ to everybody else music. You need to do your own songs instead of partyin’ to they music!” That’s my lil bro, he the life of the party. So I went in and recorded “Umma Do Me,” just to play in the clubs when we go party, and it took off! I been a rapper ever since.
Was that like a dream come true?
I had never wanted to be a rapper. I always wanted to be a businessman – an entrepreneur – just behind the scenes, pullin’ strings, just wave the baton and just orchestrate everything. But it just kinda happened like that. My debut album was called Self Made. It was successful. “Umma Do Me” went platinum. I been on the road doin’ shows ever since that came out over four years ago.
What do you have going on now?
It’s a whole new movement… I just started a new label called A-1 Recordings. I dropped a mixtape called Rocko The Name, it did like 500,000 on Live mixtapes. “Goin’ Steady” off of that is like #30 in the country with a bullet – it’s goin’ up! My brother, he got the Thirst Sprite mixtape, and of course, you know they got the “Racks on Racks” song just goin crazy! Right now it’s just myself and my brother, Future. I can say hands down, if we not the hottest in the South right now, we right next to’em – we neck and neck. They can’t afford to let off, I’m tellin’ you that, A-1!
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