In hip-hop, we’ve all grown accustomed to the mafia braggadocio talk served from rap’s Frank Lucas, Rick Ross. We’re all familiar with his street jargon and godfather mantra all too well. What we’ve also grown accustomed to – and ultimately respect – is Ross’ innate ability to find talented gems. The rap Pat Riley built his team from the bottom up by reeling in a bevy of free agents to accommodate his Maybach Music sound. From adding marquee free agents such as Wale, Meek Mill, Stalley and Maybach O to bolster his roster, he essentially filled in every hole needed to conquer the rap game. Yet, he was missing an integral piece: a sound to serve both sides of the quarter. A sound ultimately that can grab not only the black demographic but also every other demographic along the way. Enter Rockie Fresh, a 21-year-old rapper who has carved himself a nice niche thus far in his young career.
After stringing together several scintillating mixtapes such as The Otherside and Driving 88, Rockie became the talk of rap for his ability to create songs and implement his mellow rock sound to his laid-back delivery. Upon hearing this, Ross decided to add the youngster to Maybach in July of 2012. While many pondered on the notion of the deal, Rockie crushed all the skepticism with his latest release (Electric Highway) this past week. With over 100,000 downloads in just the first day, safe to say that Rockie Fresh and Rick Ross may be onto something, don’t you think?
Dime was able to sit down with Rockie and talk about his new mixtape Electric Highway, working with Rick Ross and Curren$y, Chicago’s sound, and his NBA comparison in this interview.
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Dime: What’s the overall response you’ve been getting for your new mixtape, Electric Highway?
Rockie Fresh: So far it’s been good man. You know what I’m saying? I’ve really just been paying attention to my Twitter and what my fans are saying or whatever. They definitely were pleased with it. It’s going good so far. It’s the most downloads I’ve ever did on any project. It already got 100,000 the first day. So you know I’m proud of it.
Dime: Congrats on that, Rock. You have a few joints on there that I liked. What were some of your personal favorite records on the mixtape and why?
RF: I don’t know. I really like all of them equally because they all went through the same process. You know what I’m saying? None of the songs were really something that I thought was harder to do compared to the next one. They all gave me different vibes. Each record had a different part of me; a different subject matter. When I listen to it, I kind of learned about myself in a way. So it’s super dope. I like all of them to be honest.
Dime: What was your mindset for making this mixtape? I personally felt like it was a combination of Rockie from The Otherside mixed with your last project, Driving 88.
RF: Nah definitely. I felt like one thing about The Otherside that made it so dope was the amount of time that we put into it to make it feel how we felt. You know what I’m saying? And then like, that was one thing that was tough for me about Driving 88. That was my first time really recording while touring. Also, I had a lot of stuff going on outside of the music that made me have to rest from doing a lot of the things with that tape. But what saved it was the maturity and the new love that I really got for the music with me just getting closer to it and having it where I wanted it to be. So with Electric Highway, I was able to take that maturity from Driving 88 and kind of combine it with more time on the music. I was able to make it feel like The Otherside felt because it had a bunch of time that went into the project.
Dime: You had some notable names on the mixtape with Rick Ross, Nipsey Hussle, and also Curren$y. Talk about how the collaboration with you and Curren$y aka Spitta came about?
RF: Ahhh man, I was just out in New Orleans and I’ve always been a big fan of Curren$y. Me and him signed to the same label and I also heard that he had a respect for my music. So I was out in New Orleans and we were sitting at his car shop.
Then we went out to the car and I played him the record (“Roll Up”). He was like, “Ahhh man. I wanna get on this.” So yeah, we took it from there. Knocked it out and we’re going to be working on the video real soon too. That’s my homie, I was super happy to work with him.
Dime: Nice. Another joint that I liked on the tape was the third track “Thick Bitch.” I wanted to ask if there was any girl in particular in the industry that you may have your eye on or dedicated that song to?
RF: Uhhh, nah, ain’t nobody in particular. There’s so many beautiful ladies in the industry. I don’t really kill my shot by naming them. You know what I’m saying? (Laughs)
Dime: Respect that. We won’t let the cat out of the bag on that. Let’s play some true or false if you don’t mind.
RF: Let’s do it.
Dime: Rockie Fresh is the best natural freestyler out of Maybach Music Group. True or false?
RF: (Laughs) Ahhhh man. That’s a tough one. I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of them spit. I’m trying to get up there though. We’ll say in between. It could be true.
Dime: I remember when we were at the apartment and you did a freestyle off the top. That was pretty impressive.
RF: Yeah definitely. I do that. But a lot of those dudes are a little bit older than me. So, they got a little bit more experience with that. You know what I’m saying?
Dime: I hear you. True or false, Rockie Fresh’s debut album will drop 2013?
RF: Ahhh man. You’re definitely asking a lot of could be trues man. That could be true too.
Dime: I know it’s tough. (Laughs) Last one. True or false, Rockie Fresh will be a part of the XXL Freshman Class for 2013.
RF: That could be true too. (Laughs) Hopefully that’s true man.
Dime: I think you definitely have a shot this year.
RF: I think so too. That would be dope. I think we made a good stride. Hopefully they recognize it.
Dime: When we last spoke, I asked you which two rappers would you have chosen to ride out with you on the cover of the Freshman Class. You said Casey Veggies and Phil Ade. If you were given the opportunity to pick an additional two to be on the cover, who would you choose and why?
RF: I would probably choose King Louie and uhhh lemme see. King Louie and probably… I don’t know man. (Laughs) There’s a whole bunch of MMG dudes riding on that too. But King Louie my dude, though. If I could choose somebody else, it would probably be him.
Dime: Respect. What I’ve noticed is that you definitely have a real creative eye and ear as far as pushing your material is concerned. From the artwork, to your videos, to your production, it seems that you’ve very keen and concise on how you want your music and yourself to be labeled to the public. Do you feel that type of preparation and creativeness is a dying art in the industry?
RF: I think a lot of young people are really getting into that type of stuff on all aspects with their own music. Like for me personally, I would even wanna take it to a different level than what I’ve done before. I think that’ll be the hardest thing with me as far as being creative is concerned. But the fact that my mind is so big and the ideas that I have are so crazy, I don’t always have the resources right in front of me to bring them to light. That’s one thing I’m really hoping that this tape does for me and that’s open up doors for me to really get my message out to people with ways that are outside of the music with things like the cover art, the videos, and things like that. But I feel like there are a lot of other people doing the same thing. I just think I’m doing it a whole different way.
Dime: I wouldn’t be surprised if you had something up your sleeves like a short movie on the way.
RF: Oh definitely; maybe a long movie. (Laughs)
Dime: That’s dope. I hear you. (Laughs) What’s crazy is I felt like you guys tricked us. I originally would have thought you would have signed either to Good Music or Roc Nation. What ultimately made you decide that Maybach and Ricky were the best moves for your career?
RF: It was a just real vibe. You know what I’m saying? I had a lot of dudes that said they could have seen me on a Good Music or Roc Nation. But in reality, they never really reached out to me. So it wasn’t really one of my options. Even if it was, the way me and Ross related, from us being different ages like we are and making such a different style of music, when we came to the table, there were so many similarities. Then the way they were able to help me out on the business side as well. It just looked like the right situation for me. That’s why I rolled with it.
Dime: What’s interesting is that you have a real diverse following and fan-base in contrast to MMG. Do you worry that maybe your affiliation with Ross and Maybach could hinder your fan-base or do you feel you could grow off that?
RF: I definitely feel like I could grow off that. But also too, that’s part of music. Being able to cross lines and find certain aspects and stereotypes people may have. I feel like I have a small part in doing that for Maybach Music. I just really wanna help change the stereotype of what people may think it is. There’s a lot of people that support the new look. For the few that don’t, there’s a different side to it that maybe they can gain a respect for and hopefully see the whole situation in a different way. That’s how I view it.
Dime: Now switching over, I want to you to give me your NBA comparison. If you could choose anybody in the league you resemble most, who would you choose and why?
RF: I’d definitely choose Derrick Rose. He’s from Chicago like me. He represents everything I try to bring into rapping. Not doing too much and letting his game speak for himself. For me, I let the music speak. You know, that’s what it is.
Dime: What’s funny is Mikey Rocks said he’d give himself the same comparison when I asked him. (Laughs)
RF: That’s what it is. (Laughs) He’s the homie.
Dime: Before I let you go, I want to ask you this. Being from Chicago, you guys had Kanye, Lupe, Common and Twista. There was a soulful Midwest sound coming from those guys back then. Fast forward, you have Chief Keef and GBE bringing their hard street sound while you and rappers like Mikey Rocks are bringing in that smooth vibe. How would you describe the sound of Chicago as of right now?
RF: I just think it’s super diverse. With the city, there’s just different type of people living around each other. The only thing is you getting different type of perspectives you know what I’m saying? So, me and Mikey, we came from kind of the same area. So our perspectives are similar. Louie and them (Chief Keef & GBE) came from the same area, so their perspectives are sort of similar. That’s how you get the sound. We all come from different perspectives. There are certain things that we relate on and then there are certain things we’re super different on. But we stay true to us and it just come out that way.
What do you expect to hear from Rockie Fresh in 2013?
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