1. 31 Jan



    Exclusive Interview: Rockie Fresh Advances to The Otherside

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    Written By Ryan Lyons for Respect Magazine, Photo By Ryan Lyons

    “So surprised that I’m unsigned, but my time will come,” Rockie Fresh raps on his second tape, The Otherside. But being an up-and-comer these days is more of a bittersweet position. The whole world might pay attention for five minutes, but what will keep their undivided attention once the channel inevitably switches? Whether due to his solid Midwestern fanbase or his knack for quality production and youthful yet reflective raps at only 21-years-old, Rick Ross saw something in the Chicago-bred MC that’ll keep the people listening. Now Rockie’s finally sitting in the position that he rapped about on his Kanye West-sampled track, “A.C. Green.” He’s finally on the other side.

    Flanked by his publicist and his road manager, Rockie steps into the lobby of the Hudson Hotel, a swanky, low-key stay somewhere in midtown Manhattan, and plops down on the comfy leather loveseat. Today seems like a long day for the recent MMG signee, filled with lots of questions and anticipation for his latest project, Electric Highway, but he’s both gracious and eager to get the ball rolling. Both Puffy and Rozay attempted to sign Rockie, but he decided to go with Ross, who’s had a great track record with new talent as of late. On YoutTube, we watched as Rozay cracked the seal on a Rolex flooded with diamonds and handed it to Fresh. Today, he’s rocking his new wrist-wear, along with a black leather biker jacket and some red Balenciaga kicks to brighten things up. His aura is calm. Comparable to his raps, he’s both smart and relaxed in demeanor.

    While the rest of Chicago is swept up in its recent drill movement, Rockie’s music enters into a more positive aspect. “I think their success is great. It’s allowed them to do positive,” he says of peers like Chief Keef  and Lil Reese. Rockie grew up in church, living in  the city and eventually migrating to the suburbs, and while the violence isn’t something that he’s into, he makes it clear that Chicago’s problem isn’t attributed to the music. “It stems more from the projects being knocked down,” he explains of the city’s recent move to do away with it’s high-rise tenement buildings. Now there’s more violence because neighborhoods have been mingled.

    He’d been selling out shows prior to the entrance of the popular trap offset, but he’s collaborated with the scenes purveyors like King Louie while still maintaining his persona throughout. After a few mixtapes, he’s slid into a lane of music that is one with the night. Rockie’s laid-back delivery is what makes suits his music to a late night ride. It’s both reflective and eclectic, borrowing inspiration from indie rock as well as hip-hop. It’s also gotten him comparisons to genre-blender Kanye West, and Rockie takes it all in stride. “I think it’s [because] we’re both from Chicago,”  he says. “If it’s not something aggressive, it’s compared to Kanye West.”

    Although he didn’t quite get into hip-hop until his late teens — not that it shows — his favorite hip-hop albums range from Kanye’s College Dropout to Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. “I hope that when I’m 26 I can look at life like that,” he muses, thinking of Jay’s first record. On the verge of a new release, Electric Highway, Fresh openly admits that he didn’t record while he was on tour. “I’m all about the quality,” he says, “so I had to wait till I got off tour to get the type of quality that I wanted.” The mixtape drops in 24 hours, but he feels good about it. The Lunice-produced banger, “Superman OG” just leaked that morning. As soon as the bass drops, Rockie hops on effortlessly spews swag: “One of the freshest niggas you’ve seen in a while.” It’s nonchalantly swagged out. He’s happy; he’s signed.

    Days later at Rockie’s first headlining show at New York’s SOB’s, it’s freezing cold outside, somewhere below 10 degrees. Fans have been waiting outside for two hours circling the small venue. It seems as though Maybach Music is reliving Bad Boy Record’s stint in ‘95, only withMeek Mill posters everywhere and Gunplay mixtapes passed out by the street team. The first 25 people in line get exclusive purple Electric Highway cassette tapes and 3D glasses for the experience. Rockie’s trying to win this city over, ice cold or not. It feels like New York’s welcoming him in true Windy City style. Not only are Young Chop and Sasha Go Hard in the building, Lunice preps with an animated set as well as Sir Michael Rocks. The building is filled with college kids, mostly Rockie’s age, and it’s evident he’s made an impression. Later in the day, Rockie Instagrams pics with French Montana, Wale, Meek Mill, Rozay, and the rest of MMG, and even though his facial expression doesn’t show it,  he’s thrilled. Towards the end of his set, he announced, “It was always my dream to freestyle in New York.” And so, of course, he does.

     

  2. 29 Feb



    Iggy Azalea Fronts for Hip Hop

    Mr.Cheeks “Channel Zero” (1996) referring to Marky Mark

    “Marky Mark be talking that slang but he don’t even understand it/yeah I said Marky Mark/fronting like the buddha is sparked/I never seen you in the park/you gets awards for your bullshit skills gee/a white boy acting black/that shit kills me/pants sagging talking slang kid and all that/I never seen you in the projects’ hall black”

    Written By Ryan Lyons

    After the new XXL Magazine cover leaked at noon on February 28, 2012, many people debated on who and who did not deserve to be involved. Many referred to Roscoe Dash, who has had chart-topping hits already, as hardly a “Freshman”. Some considered all the people who should have made it, like Dom Kennedy, Schoolboy Q and ASAP Rocky. All of this chatter included rumors of certain artists turning down the cover because they felt it might be more detrimental than helpful to their careers. What’s more intriguing to me is  Interscope’s new signee Iggy Azalea, an Australian bred Caucasian female emcee, making that Freshman cover. Some found it profound, interesting and even inspiring. In contrast, what could be more of a slap in the face than to put someone on the cover who, instead of telling their story, mimics and chops hip-hop down to something less than culture?


    When XXL uses Iggy on a cover it cripples their credibility as being a reputable hip hop magazine. Is she sexy? Sure. But, what would most people think if they saw an Australian girl in LA gang territory rapping about her genitals and using black people to reinforce her “hip hop cool”’? When she did it in the video for her single “Pussy”,  I felt incredibly offended. Her whole identity feels like a ploy to sell black culture to a white audience.  It’s even worse that a lot of black people are sold on it.

    Iggy’s climb  isn’t  as much of an issue about race but rather an issue of authenticity. XXL cosigning Azalea forces one to second guess the intentions of certain other white artists who have earned their stripes in hip hop. Lets be fair, she can rap. But in order to win over black folks as fans maybe you shouldn’t call your self a slave master.

    For a young woman who is in the music industry to find Iggy Azalea an inspiration just because she is the first woman to snatch a XXL Freshman cover is a waste of time. I can think of a dozen female spitters that could attest to that. Another upcoming female emcee, with a similar name, Azalea Banks, commented on Iggy making the cover, via twitter. She vented, “

    How can you endorse a white woman who called herself a runaway slave master. I’m not anti white girl, but I’m also not here for any one outside of my culture trying to trivialize very serious aspects of it.”  The record Banks is referring to is a flip on a verse from Kendrick Lamar. She was trying to pay respect to a dope emcee but her homage further proves her ignorance.

    Azalea Banks stance on this situation was noteworthy. Black women should have more pride in their culture, rather than accept someone who puts some curlers in their hair, sits on a front stoop in Compton, and raps about her “Pussy”, whether that person be white or black.

    There’s something unsettling about the current slew of white females in hip-hop including Kreashawn, V-nasty, and Iggy Azalea. My main problem is you speak like us and act like us but you don’t share our story. And when they aren’t careful about what they represent  to middle class white America, our culture is becomes another joke. Hip-hop wouldn’t thrive as much as it has without participation from other races; it’s another thing to use that tool in a way that degrades a culture and influences a stereotype of a black person. In conclusion, the best thing that a white rapper can do in Hip-Hop, is what any other participant should do. Be yourself and tell your own story.