It’s been a big year for Rockie Fresh. The 19-year-old rapper entered 2010 untested, having just released his debut mix tape, the spotty but promising Rockie’s Modern Life, which got his name onto local hip-hop blogs like Fake Shore Drive for the first time. He’s heading into 2011 a full-time artist, with some big-name endorsements from the Chicago hip-hop scene and beyond. His second mix tape, The Otherside, came out two weeks ago, and it’s already inspired Urb magazine to call him “the Derek [sic] Rose of rap Chi-Town has been waiting for.”
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Basically Rockie is a smart, polite, friendly kid who still lives with his parents in south-suburban Homewood, and the fact that he doesn’t try to hide that in his lyrics, in his image, or in his conversations with journalists is one of his more endearing qualities. It may also have something to do with the way he’s been embraced by so many better-known figures in Chicago rap. YP and Big Homie Doe, for instance, appear on his track “Fly Like This.” Promoter Hustle Simmons got him the bill at October’s Lil B show at the Wild Hare. And Vic Mensa, Hollywood Holt, and Mikey Rocks of the Cool Kids all supported Rockie by opening for him at the Otherside release party last week.
One of the most important relationships Rockie has built is with Kidz in the Hall rapper Naledge, who donated a verse to one of Otherside‘s standout tracks, the rolling, string-soaked “Living.” Naledge “has sort of played a mentor role in my career,” he says. “He calls me every now and then and drops some knowledge on me. He knows what he’s talking about.”
When I ask Rockie whether he’s talking to any labels, he explains that he’s got to keep that information confidential—but given the way he brightens up at the question, it certainly looks like someone’s been showing interest. “I really can’t say too much about that,” he says. “But you know, we’ve got a while to go. I’m still not anywhere near as big as I want to be.”
Kids These Days, Rockie Fresh Sat 1/15, 5 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 2109 S. State, 312-949-0121 or 866-468-3401, $5, all-ages.
