MiddleChild: Rocko! What it do man?
Rocko: Nothing much man. How is everything with you?
MiddleChild: All is good this way. Now to begin with there are not to many people familiar with Rocko for real for real, so what can you tell us about you as a person?
Rocko: As a person?
MiddleChild: Or an artist?
Rocko: Well I’m a humble dude. I’m a good spirited dude. I got a mean swagga. I got a crazy flow…I’m a cool dude. I’m hot and I’m a good rapper. (laughs)
MiddleChild: Okay. I hear you. Now I know you were doing your thing for a minute behind the scenes. So tell me what made you wanna step out and become an artist.
Rocko: At first I was cash motivated. I was like “I can’t find an artist that wanna do right. I see all these artists, all these guys I know making all this money and all they doing is rapping and looking cool. I know how to look cool in my sleep. Ya know? So all I gotta do is learn how to rap and maybe I can make me some money like that.“ But once I got into writing and learning how to write I really fell in love with the art.
MiddleChild: So how long have you actually been doing this?
Rocko: The music in general?
MiddleChild: Yea.
Rocko: Like seven years. Going on like seven years.
MiddleChild: Cool. Doing your thing. What kind of impact do you hope to have on the industry?
Rocko: Well I just hope that everyone accepts me for me cause I’m not gonna change up and be somebody I’m not. Umma do me. Feel me? I’m not going to pretend that I’m this person or that person when I’m not that person. It’s a lot of that taking place.
MiddleChild: In the world of hip hop in general?
Rocko: Yes.
MiddleChild: So what’s your take on the current state of hip hop?
Rocko: I mean I don’t know what to say about it. It’s a lot of people doing they thing and I salute them for what they do and how they do it. I don’t feel like hip hop is dead cause there is still a lot of people that have issues and address it and reaching the people and the people for the most part are taking to it because they’re still poppin’. They’re still selling records so I wouldn’t say it’s dead. It’s dying. I’ll say it’s dying, but I wouldn’t say it’s dead.
MiddleChild: Alright. I know you were in talks to sign with Interscope also, but in the end you got on board with Def Jam. What made you run with Def Jam instead of Interscope?
Rocko: It’s like initially Def Jam…I narrowed it down to two labels that I could see myself in and Def Jam was in the top two. So once JD reached out and wanted to do the deal…he just got the position over at Island Urban and whatever…and he wanted to sit down. I had a few options actually, but like I said I narrowed I down and thought about it like “well it’ll be a better situation for me working with a person who I’ve known for years and have a relationship with and someone I can be hands on with.” So that’s pretty much how the decision was made.
MiddleChild: Oh. And since you been underground doing your thing and grinding all these years, you seem pretty well connected. How does it feel to have the respect from all the music heads in Atlanta?
Rocko: It’s an incredible feeling. It’s an incredible feeling. Pretty much everybody in Atlanta knows me and they know that I been doing this for awhile and like you say, they respect my hustle, so there’s always been that respect. It’s always been there. But now that I’m rapping it’s like you know, “Okay. That’s my dude. He rapping now.” So it’s like rappers where they getting $100 thousand for sixteen bars, they just reaching out and doing it for me on the love cause they know I been at it for a minute and it’s my time.
MiddleChild: Cool. Now if I’m not mistaken you discovered Young Dro, right?
Rocko: Yea, that’s true.
MiddleChild: Thought so. That relationship still intact?
Rocko: Yea. That’s my brother.
MiddleChild: Cool. So you naming the album “Swag Season”. What’s the meaning of the title?
Rocko: Well actually “Swag Season”, that’s the title of the mixtape. The title of the album is “Self Made”.
MiddleChild: Oh ok. Who all you got jumping on that with you?
Rocko: As of right now, I have features from T.I., Jeezy, Ric Ross, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, who else… Jazzy Pha, Juvenile…but I’m not sure if I’m going to use any of them on my album because it’s like my album…this my album. This my baby and I want people to understand me and get a feel of me. But that’s something I got up in the air. I haven’t decided on it yet.
MiddleChild: Well I know it’s too soon to even be thinking of the second single because you’re just now about to push the debut hard. So have you shot the video yet?
Rocko: Yea. We shot the video for “Umma Do Me” on Tuesday. (November 27th). This Tuesday that just passed. It should be airing within the next two weeks.
MiddleChild: I’ll be on the lookout for it. What can your new fans expect from you over the next year or so?
Rocko: Just hit records. Hit records.
MiddleChild: Okay. So when you hit the stage what do we see? You know some entertainers say they have an alter ego when they perform. What type of energy do you bring to the stage?
Rocko: I’m really not the type of person who likes to move a whole lot. I never really liked to dance, but I got a couple of moves. I got a couple little steps I do. Like one, two…maybe three, but I mostly leave it at two. The same ol two step. Just with a lot of swag.
MiddleChild: Alright, so tell me what you think is going to be the stand out cut from this album. The one track that will make a person not familiar take a listen and be like “Oh yea. I can ride with this dude.”
Rocko: Wow. That’s a good one cause it’s like I record everyday. I probably have like two hundred and three hundred records right now and I’m picking the records. I’m picking the album out of these records, but I’ll probably say…I don’t know. That’s a good one. I guess I’ll say “Can’t Stop”. It’s a song called “Can’t Stop” featuring this dude named Dungeon. He from Sierra Leone Africa. He singing the chorus on it. It’s an international song, but it’s about the grind. Ya know? You can’t stop. You gotta keep persevering.
MiddleChild: Right. But how hard is it going to be for you to pick a tracklisting from over two hundred records?
Rocko: It’s really not going to be hard because I got a team and I don’t surround myself with “yes men”. I make sure that everyone that’s in my circle is at 100% and they got a mind of they own and I respect they opinion. So we pretty much narrow it down like that.
MiddleChild: That’s the business. Well I actually met you twice before, but I know you don’t remember for real. Once at the “ATL” premiere in Atlanta and I was at your birthday party a few years back. You know how to party playboy. (both laugh) We won’t even talk about how this ol girl got me for my money.
Rocko: What happened?
MiddleChild: Them dancers man. (laughs) But it’s all good.
Rocko: It’s all good.
MiddleChild: So we’ll be looking out for you first quarter of 2008, right?
Rocko: Yea. We’re looking at March. Early March.
MiddleChild: Well cool. We’ll keep everyone updated on you on MiddleChild Promotions and also let everyone know they can link up with you on myspace.
Rocko: Right. Myspace/rockodadon
MiddleChild: Cool. Well you have a good one Rocko.
Rocko: You too man. Thanks man.
................................................................