Author: B-Nyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : J Romero

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This week’s Indie Pick of the Week, J Romero aspired to be a professional soccer player before he ever orchestrated a hook on a track or laid down any kind of vocals.

He was born in Antioch, California before he relocated to Arizona with his mom, brother and sister. Growing up in a latino household he was into soccer “big time” and began playing when he was 7-years-old.

At 17-years-old his soccer dreams were crushed when he tore his ACL playing football. After coping with the draining emotions of having to give up on something he worked so hard on, he redirected his attention to music.

“I’m just a young Latino that never even thought about making music, all I wanted to do is play soccer but like my team and I say…”God Is The Best Chest Player,” he said. “My journey has had a lot of ups and downs”

Things seem to be more on the ups than the downs these days for J and his musical career. His most recent project ‘If These Walls Could Talk’ display his brilliant vocals and melodies that never seem to miss a beat.

Listen to the full project below:

https://soundcloud.com/officialjromero/sets/if-these-walls-could-talk

He describes his thought process as simple, all he needs is great energy and vibes the rest takes care of itself. Usually he just goes in the booth and freestyles words till he finds the right one that aligns with the production.

“It all comes to me once I vibe to the melody,” he said. “All the music I write or put out is the way I was feeling in that exact moment of my life. “

The heat of the moment is everything for J when coming up with ideas for new music.

“I do my songwriting in the moment whether it be in the shower, car, or studio. As soon as I get an idea I voice memo it if I’m not in the studio to record it ASAP,” he said.

His musical inspirations are widely ranged in different genres with the likes of: Usher, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Drake, Daddy Yankee, Marc Anthony, J. Lo, Enrique Iglesias and Chris Brown. People have even gone as far as calling him the “Mexican Chris Brown,” although he doesn’t compare himself to anyone.

“I couldn’t compare myself to anyone because everyone has a different way they make music or work in their life but I have always had ppl tell me I’m going be the Mexican Chris Brown or the next Enrique,” he said.

One thing he does take pride in is repping Arizona, and feels that it is the next city to be booming not only musically, but as a whole in the entertainment industry.

“People over look Arizona very much so and Arizona has a lot of talent whether it be music, modeling, acting, ect.,” he said. “Arizona is definitely going to be the next big state to blow up for sure. Eventually the industry will start paying more attention to the over flowing of talent here.”

He and fellow Arizona artist, Vee The Rula will soon be dropping their forthcoming single titled “Be The One,” so look out for that.

“I’m working on many other tracks, just always expect great music from me in the future,” he exclaimed.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce 

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Mar. 27th – Apr. 2nd

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D’ANGELO OUTS SWAGGY P

D’Angelo Russell is the future of the Los Angeles Lakers and figures to be a leader next season with Kobe’s retirement. Leaders usually possess maturity and are well-liked by the team they lead.

The rookie broke the ultimate guy code as he filmed teammate Nick Young on camera without Young’s consent. On the video Swaggy brags about bedding a drunk 19-year-old.

The leaked video didn’t sit well with the team as they isolated Russell the whole week.

With Russell being the Lakers’ prized rookie, he figures to be on the roster next season meaning Young will probably go. Honestly, even with Young gone I’m not sure how the team is gonna feel having a teammate like Russell leading them.

Of course the Internet was in full-effect with the memes. Check a couple out below:


https://twitter.com/LALeakers/status/716036282913173504

Things don’t look good for Russell as it seems that Young Metro don’t trust him:

One person apparently appreciated Russell’s disloyalty:

https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/715080842138103808

Hopefully this situation doesn’t end Nick and Iggy’s engagement.

KEHLANI BACK WITH PND?

Last time I checked Kehlani was in a relationship with Cleveland Cav’s Point Guard, Kyrie Irving, and the two seemed very happy together.

Earlier this week Kehlani’s ex, PartyNextDoor posted a picture with the R&B singer in his bed, causing complete outrage with allegations of Kehlani cheating on Irving.

There wasn’t any clarity on whether Kehlani did in fact cheat on Irving or the two were split at the time. However, the backlash from the whole situation proved to be a little too much for her to handle, as she later shared on her Instagram that she attempted suicide.


https://twitter.com/balleralert/status/714782816035274752

Suicide is no joke and it appears that Kehlani wasn’t seriously injured and happens to be in a better mental place, thankfully.

Of course the Internet shot out hilarious memes:


https://twitter.com/Tpindell/status/714537935622647808

I don’t know who’s snapshots caused more damage PND’s or D’Angelo Russell’s. In my opinion they both should put the camera down and focus on their careers.

TIDAL AND CHILL?

Jay-Z’s TIDAL has seen a major rise in subscribers in the past couple of week’s with Kanye exclusively releasing TLOP on the streaming service.

It appears TIDAL is ready to expand from exclusively streaming music and will soon begin to stream movies, giving Netflix and Hulu a run for their money.

The service has already filed for licensing to acquire original movies with the help and efforts of music mogul, Irv Gotti.

There have been several reports that Jay will be producing a movie soon and Kanye is working on a film script with screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis, both will surely be exclusively released on TIDAL.

The movie streaming could be up and running as early as June, in time for summer ‘16.

You ready to TIDAL and chill?

BAD BOY REUNION

Puff Daddy and the Family will soon be a thing again, at least for one night as the mogul announced he will be reuniting the crew for “One Night Only,” a Bad Boy Record reunion.

The reunion will occur on Friday, May 20, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in honor of the late, Notorious B.I.G.

Performers include: Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, Ma$e, 112, Lil’ Kim, the Lox, Faith Evans, French Montana, Total and Mario Winans, all performing Bad Boy classics and duets.

Big Poppa would’ve turned 44 the day after the reunion concert and inspired the reunion.

Tickets will go on sale April 2, at 11 a.m. EST on livenation.com.

HOT 97’s SUMMER JAM EXPANDING

Some real classic moments in hip-hop have happened at HOT 97’s Summer Jam since the concert’s inception.

The Emmis Communications radio station announced that it will be expanding the star-studded concert to a whole other continent.

HOT 97 has secured a multiyear license agreement with Japan’s Avex Live Creative for the concert to take place in Japan’s Zepp Tokyo venue.

Summer Jam Tokyo will happen Friday, July 29. The lineup is still to be announced but expect it to be epic!

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : Nav

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Toronto’s urban music scene has been a hotbed for talent the past couple years. Boasting with a hearty lineup consisting of Drake, The Weeknd, Tory Lanez, Belly, and others have made the “6ix Side” a force to be reckoned with.

This week’s indie pick, Nav, hails from Toronto and is looking to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Canadian contributors. Repping “The Rex” section of the 6ix, Nav is making strides by not only repping for the city, but also putting out quality music, while handling both the production and writing.

Nav couples 808 drums that blast on the weakest speaker system and provides revealing lyrics that lucidly take you on a ride with the producer/rapper/singer. Nav has also shown he has profound vocals and thunder through a track. It’s easy to see why Nav is next out of the talent-filled pool Toronto has become.

On the recently-released “On My Own” single, Nav melodically talks about his trust issues, shutting down record labels, Xanax trips, and doing “this on my own” and not “needing no help.” Listen to the full track below:

Nav has made his dreamy symphony and thumping production his trademark. The instrumentals coupled with his style of flowing, represent his artistry well.

His delivery has drawn comparisons to Texas rapper Post Malone. Aficionados have @’d Post showing love for the Nav’s “Myself” and “TTD (Ten Toes Down)” singles.

Listen to “Myself” below and tell me what you think in the comments section.

Nav was unfortunately unavailable for comment. Aside from his talents, there isn’t too many details to provide about Nav. One thing for certain is that he’s an explosive talent and WILL develop into a worldwide star.

Nav is next! Don’t sleep and don’t forget who put you on.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

B Nyce’s Exclusive Interview With TK N Cash (Audio)

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You know TK N Cash had to stop by and chop it up with us on their stop in LA. Fresh off doing 15 shows in three days at SXSW, the duo sat down with B Nyce to discuss their upcoming E.P., their experience being in the music industry since their early teen years and about the creative freedom they have being signed to 300 Ent.

Listen to the full interview below:

@IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Mar. 20th – Mar. 26th

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R.I.P. PHIFE DAWG

Hip-hop lost a true pioneer this week with the death of Phife Dawg, who passed away at the age of 45 after a long battle with diabetes.

His family released a statement which you can read below:

“We regret to share the news that on Tuesday March 22nd, 2016, Malik has passed away due to complications resulting from diabetes,” the statement reads. “Malik was our loving husband, father, brother and friend. We love him dearly. How he impacted all our lives will never be forgotten. His love for music and sports was only surpassed by his love of God and family.”

He impacted many lives since the inception of supergroup, A Tribe Called Quest. The funky lyrics he spit to those classic instrumentals will forever live in my head.

The 5-foot Assassin released five albums as part of A Tribe Called Quest and one solo album in 2000. He was a true poet, lyricist and musician.

I hope you all will Find A Way to the Award Tour as you link up with miss Bonita Applebum to have Hot Sex On A Platter as you embark on the Scenario.

My favorite Phife Diggy line was the one below:

Feel free to share your favorite Phife Dawg line in the comments section.

REST IN POWER, Phife.

50 CENT AND THE GAME PARTY AT THE SAME CLUB

One of the longest standing beefs in hip-hop is probably 50 Cent’s and The Game’s, dating back to 2005. Since then there’s been a number of diss tracks and even a couple of unfortunate violent situations between both entourages.

This past week it appeared as if things were a bit more peaceful with both rappers making appearances at the same club in Hollywood.

Although the two did not share a handshake or even a stage it was huge for both rappers to be in the same building after the negativity that has existed between them.

Game seemed to be playing peacemaker as he ordered more than a few bottles of 50’s Effen Vodka and followed by praising the taste of the vodka on his Instagram. In addition he mentioned the two “used to be as tight as @Kehlani pussy.” The post has since been deleted.

Nice to see the two can actually be in the same place enjoying themselves without any drama. Hopefully they can put their differences in the past and go back to making the fire music they once made together.

KANYE MAKES A QUICK MIL

Kanye West tweeted a couple weeks ago that he was over $50-million in debt. The situation appeared to be so dire he tweeted millionaires and billionaires to invest in ‘Ye.

Well, according to Mr. West he made $1-million in two days from “The Life Of Pablo”-inspired pop-up shop in New York. We’ve all seen the price tags on Kanye’s jackets, hoodies, t-shirts and other clothing so it’s very possible.

“The Pablo pop up was almost a pop up of influence,” he tweeted. ““but there is no other brand that could sell 1 million dollars of clothing in 2 days from 1 location!!!”

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/712416940711669761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/712417183473782785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/712423750520721408
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/712424774891409410

Well, if things continue to go as they are he just needs another 52 pop-up shops to be debt-free! Yay! Or should I say ‘YE!

JAY ELECTRONICA EMBARKING ON A TOUR

Although this may sound like a myth, Jay Electronica announced he will be going on a five city tour.

The tour is scheduled to be kicked off next week in San Francisco, CA. and most shows will be on the West coast, atleast for this run.

During his April 2nd show he’ll perform a J. Dilla tribute along with Slum Village, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, Blaqroyalt.

Here’s all the tour stops and venues:

03/30 – San Francisco, CA @ 1015 Folsom
04/02 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
04/03 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
04/06 – Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
04/10 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cabooze
04/13 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
04/17 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s

Listen to his newest song below:

Still no word on the album but don’t hold your breath. I’m sure if it ever drops it will include a Frank Ocean feature and may even drop the same day Detox drops. Jokes.

SXSW RECAP

The biggest independent music festival capped off this week and there was way too much to talk about, so let’s highlight the main happenings.

Drake closed out the final night of the Fader Fort as he surprised guests after Yo Gotti got off the stage.

Drizzy performed some of his newer hits like, “Jumpman,” “Energy,” “Know Yourself” to name a few.

In his final year of presidency, Barack Obama became the first president ever to take part in any festivities at SXSW.

Barack hit up the SXSW Interactive Keynote Conversation where he showed major support and appreciation to “influencers.”

During the keynote, the First Lady released a song to support her #62MillionGirls global education initiative which she discussed at the event.

Listen to a snippet of the song, “This Is For My Girls,” written by Diane Warren and features Missy Elliott, Janelle Monaé, Kelly Rowland, Kelly Clarkson, Lea Michele, Zendaya and others.

Althought there were countless David Bowie tributes at this year’s festival none was bigger than Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals.

The combination of both genres made for one of the best Bowie tributes I’ve ever seen.

Paak is already a blend of genres in himself with the way he meshes hip-hop, R&B and even a little bit of dance. There was an abundance of energy and the band was simply graceful.


WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

Tracee Ellis-Ross And Regina Hall Hilariously Cover “Jumpman”

Watch Tracee Ellis-Ross get on her rapper shit while covering Drake and Future’s “Jumpman” as her alter-ego, T-Murda.

T-Murda in her glammed out nails, gold hoops, gold grill and cornrows attempts to make sense of the lyrics along with her homegirl, Regina Hall. The two even try to keep up with the tempo but unfortunately are unable of finding their tempo showing they were nothing like DJ Mustard.

After Future’s part of “chicken wings and fries we don’t go on dates/Nobu, Nobu, Nobu, Nobu,” T responds by saying, “he’s cheap, but then he’s not cheap.”

Tracee has channeled her inner rapper before having covered Travis Scott’s “Antidote” and Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen.”

Watch the video above to see “they not just bluffing” and experience the comedy.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

Tim Westwood Drops Exclusive Phife Dawg Freestyle

Today Tim Westwood dropped an exclusive, throwback freestyle from the late, Phife Dawg.

The freestyle was recorded back in 1999 and highlights the kind of spitter Phife was. On the freestyle you will also hear Wildchild and Madlib.

Rest In Beats, Phife a.k.a. Phife Diggy a.k.a. the 5-foot Assassin.

“Everywhere I go they say, “yo that kid is nice…who that kid again” what, Phife.”

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week: Duckie MrPoetry

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When you think of the Bahamas you think beautiful beaches, tranquillity, blue skies and azure water. One thing that may not cross your mind is hip-hop music.

This week’s Indie Pick of the Week, Duckie MrPoetry looks to change that and ultimately put his hometown of the Bahamas on the map, for more than a touristy vacation spot which it is primarily known for.

Duckie acknowledges the music that dominates on the islands is “Rake n’ Scrape” which he loves but doesn’t believe the genre will ever meet “international standards,” so he turned to rapping.

The tropical feel of the “Rake n’ Scrape” is what draws the islanders to the music with its cowbells, steel drums and goat skin drums giving that natural, soothing sound.

One of the struggles the pool of Bahamian artists that try to rap deal with, is the social judgement from the people that results in “civil confusion” because they feel these young artists are trying to bite the American culture and not staying true to their own.

“Telling a person born In the Bahamas that because his records [are] hip hop it isn’t traditional “hip hop” music that basically defines what goes on over here,” he said. “Its hard to be heard but then it’s so beautiful to live here sometimes I forget about all the messed up stuff happening around me and just put them experiences in my music to hopefully share to the world.”

Sharing his experiences is what his music is all about. You may not hear him rap about buying bottles at the club, riding foreign cars or gang activity because he doesn’t do that, he’s more about the social issues and experiences he deals with.

“I have to build up my Home Music culture so our artists can benefit from their work like artists anywhere else in the world,” he said. “I bet the only thing people know is “Baha Men” who let the dogs out, that watered down crap don’t represent a inch of what the Bahamas is.”

On his track “F.B.H.” off his week-old project, ‘The Two-Four Tape’ he airs out some of his frustrations he deals with spitting the words, “Niggaz playing bullshit pause, stop/but I spit hot nigga jaw drop/DJs playing bullshit, y’all stop/rappers need to stop talking what y’all not.”

Listen to the Jahlil Beats produced song here:

https://soundcloud.com/duckiemrpoetry/fbh-remix-duckie-mrpoetry

Duckie knows his journey to make it big will take a little longer and be harder due to where he’s located and the minimal support his people put forward.

“The respect level for artists in the Bahamas is at an all-time low, nobody purchases music (AT ALL), Nobody supports their’s home,” he said. “But the very second a foreign act is booked everyone there, and even the artists over here who we claim we “love” aren’t shown any support.

Even with minimal support Duckie will be relentless in his attempts to make it on a global scale. He’s aware he’ll have to be innovative in his attempts to capture the following it takes to make it and nothing or no one will stop him.

“I performed all over my hometown had everyone singing words to my songs, but I never made that deep connection with the people,” he said. “Been a fighter and still fighting, I have “Believe Achieve” tattooed on my right forearm sleeve tattoo and i live and die by those words, I BELIEVE that I will get where i want to be one day, but it wont be easy.”

Listen to Duckie’s full project below:

https://soundcloud.com/duckiemrpoetry/sets/the-two-four-tape-x-duckie-mrpoetry

“Mudda Sick!” Follow Duckie on the socials to keep up on his moves, @DuckieMrPoetry.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Mar. 13th – Mar. 19th

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UNTITLED UNMASTERED TOPS CHARTS

Kendrick Lamar just can’t miss and his recent project, ‘Untitled Unmastered’ ranking number 1 on the Billboard 200 Charts just further proves his dominance in the rap game.

Despite dropping the project the same week as Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz dropped their EP and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released theirs respectively. Kendrick was still able to outsell the duos, that’s a one man wrecking crew.

The 7-time Grammy winner has sold over 175,000 units putting him back on that top spot. Around this time last year K. Dot was holding the top crown for his sophomore album, ‘To Pimp A Butterfly.’

Salute, King Kendrick.


JADAKISS AND FABOLOUS DROPPING JOINT MIXTAPE

Jada and Fab are known to spit vicious lyrics with some mean punchlines and this week the two confirmed that they will be releasing a joint mixtape titled, ‘Freddy Vs. Jason.’

Both New York MCs have appeared on tracks like Young Jeezy’s “OJ” together in addition to others.

There is no release date set as of now but be on the lookout for the mixtape to drop soon as Fab hinted on his Instagram account.

DESIIGNER SHADES FUTURE

A few weeks ago footage of Future taking subliminal shots at Desiinger surfaced on the Internet. This past week Desiigner got some redemption at the Atlanta rapper while he performed at SXSW.

Desiigner made it clear to the crowd that he is not a knockoff or imitation of Future and then proceeded to drop his newest song, “Pluto.”

If you recall “Pluto” is also the name of Future’s first album.

The whole situation is weird especially considering the fact that both rappers sound almost alike.

Check out the videos and Desiigner’s new song, “Pluto.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp7aGPq8uds

RIHANNA TO BE HONORED

Rihanna will be honored with the Rock Star Award at this year’s BET’s Black Girls Rock which will be premiering April 5.

The annual awards gala recognizes the accomplishments of black women in the music and television industry.

Others that will be honored along with Rih are R&B icon Gladys Knight, producer and writer Shonda Rhimes amongst others.

RIh shared her appreciation on her Twitter account:

You go, girl!

MICHELLE OBAMA DEBUTS SONG

The First Lady of the United States released a song as part of her #62MillionGirls campaign, which was created to raise funds to get young girls across the world educated.

The song, “This Is For My Girls” was unveiled Wednesday as part of Barack Obama’s keynote at SXSW.

Although Michelle doesn’t drop any vocals on the song, you will hear Missy Elliot, Janelle Monae, Zendaya, Kelly Clarkson and Lea Michelle all featured on the song.

“This Is For My Girls” is available for purchase on iTunes. All proceeds will go to the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund. Listen to the snippet:

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @beeroxx90

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : J Woods

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The industry has seen a rise in artists that are multi-talented with the abilities to both sing and rap. J Woods is exactly that prototype.

Repping Toledo, Ohio by way of Los Angeles, Woods moved to the West Coast to increase his value as an artist and to gain exposure.

“In Ohio we don’t got any outlets for music foreal everybody know us for Bone-Thugs & Harmony or MGK,” he said. “So I decided to move to LA cause everything was moving.”

In LA he caught the attention of rapper, Glasses Malone, whom he began to do hooks for and then he teamed up with Joe Moses who threw him on his debut album, ‘Brackin.’

The Joe Moses collaboration has done really well and put Woods on a platform he probably wouldn’t have got to if he would’ve stayed in Toledo. Listen to their single “Party Starter” here:

https://soundcloud.com/jwoods1000/j-woods-party-starter-feat-joe-moses-prod-by-lexi-banks

Aside from rapping and singing, the 23-year-old is a well-versed musician having played drums and the violin.

“When I was young I used to play in plays for school, church etc.,” he said. “Every chance I could get I’d be in something dealing with music.”

Music has been a lifelong interest for Woods beginning with singing at 3-years-old and rapping at the age of 8. He recalls recording his own music at 12-years-old on cassette tapes and eventually moving on to computer microphones and Pro Tools.

Through the years he has really evolved as an artist and hopes to one day be able to work with his top two inspirations, Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa.

“At the end of the day I want my daughter and my family to make sure we all good and we can all just live,” he said. “It’s hard coming from where I’m from people never really make it out so I keep my city on my back everywhere I go and rep for Ohio every chance I get.”

Check out his song “On Da Real” off his latest project, ‘Westside Story.’

https://soundcloud.com/jwoods1000/j-woods-on-da-real-prod-by-xxx-productionz

Get the full project here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/westside-story/id1067337062

Follow J on the socials @JWoods1000.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : Rocky Banks

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Do you believe in second chances?

If this week’s Indie Pick of the Week, Rocky Banks did not, he wouldn’t be chasing his dreams today. The Houston rapper still remembers the fateful morning he woke up depressed in his home. That morning he took several drugs in hope of freeing himself from the depression and pain he suffered so badly from.

The mixture of drugs, coupled with a couple dab hits resulted in Banks losing all sense and feeling in his lungs, shutting them down as he hopelessly gasped for air.

“I remember waking up in the hospital and the doctor telling me, “On a scale from one to 10, 10 being completely healthy and one being dead, you were at a two,” he recounts. “It was right then and there I was like alright, God has favor over my life.”

Struggles with drug addiction began early in Banks’ adolescence. Throughout his teenage years, he dealt with a lot of conflict at home and began turning to the Houston street life as an alternative. That’s when things took a turn for the worst.

“I kept getting into fights, got kicked out of school and said fuck this shit I’m gonna just burn out,” he said. “I started getting into shit, started selling petty grams and shit just to get by.”

It was at the age of 17, that Rocky got more involved with drugs. He would take “anything that anybody offered him.” The drugs he consumed ranged from cocaine to Xanax bars and “everything in between.” However, his drug of choice was painkillers.

“I would steal Vicodin from my mom after she would go to the dentist and they would give her the shit after getting a tooth pulled or something,” he said. “I was really into the painkillers a lot, I would do them and just be just chilling.”

Nowadays music has become his new drug and escape. He’s turned dope lyrics, catchy hooks and symphonies into the painkillers he once craved. Music has became a major contributor for leaving drug addiction behind him, with the exception of marijuana, which he doesn’t consider a drug.

On his most recent project, ‘In Other News I Don’t Do Drugs Anymore,’ (I.O.N.I.D.D.A) he discusses his previous addiction and what his life was in full detail.

The ability to blatantly express his emotions on a track came from his poetry writing which he picked up in high school. Poetry helps him explicitly draw his thoughts and emotions out.

“Whatever the emotion is that day or that week rather, I’m going in making songs straight like that,” he exclaimed. “If I’m pissed off about something Ima unleash and spit fire on it, if it’s some type of shit I’m going thru Ima make those storytelling, serious records.”

On the song, “A lot” he pairs his futuristic style with that storytelling he described, while thumping on the hook in a Kendrick Lamar-esque manner. Check it out:

The comparison to Kendrick Lamar is often brought up to Banks and he doesn’t mind it at all, as he views the Compton MC as one of his major inspirations.

“I get told all the time I look like him or I sound like him,” he said. “I know one day Ima run into him, talk about it and just laugh about it.”

Rocky has always been a fan of West Coast rap, growing up listening to it and admits to getting his style from N.W.A. Aside from N.W.A. and K. Dot, his other inspirations are Anderson Paak, Andre 3000, Kanye West, 2-Pac and Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson isn’t only an inspiration musically for Banks, he his also a huge fan of MJ’s choreography skills.

“My family is really big on Michael, so I came up on him,” he proclaimed. “I started doing all the fucking choreography, so that’s when I knew I could entertain people and keep a crowd.”

He’s been preparing to showcase those choreography skills at SXSW in Austin, Texas next week and has been spending a lot of time in the studio working on his next EP, expected to drop this summer.

“Ima keep making this music for the youth, the kids that really have something to say but really don’t know how to say it,” he says. “I’m really tryna go global with it.”

Listen to the full I.O.N.I.D.D.D.A EP here:

Follow him on his socials – @TheRockyBanks.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce