marketing and promoting any way I can to get my name out there.
Known as Iroc throughout most of his career, Roca Dolla released a double-disc album under his new moniker in 2008. Obviously the name change was a good move for the underground AZ legend – the rapper/ producer/hustle man moved close to 15,000 units in the independent circuit. Tell me about your indie label. It’s called 5th Coast Records. We got Tray Gutta, S Black, Ocean, The Formula. We have raw talent. What made you want to put other artists on? It’s a lot of talent here and it’s not a lot of outlets in the Southwest. Out here, parts of Texas, Vegas, Colorado, New Mexico, we call it the Southwest. I call it the 5th Coast. The East coast is where a lot of music originated, then it went to the West coast, then to the South, then to the Midwest. The 5th Coast, or the Southwest, it’s a new area we’re trying to bring out. How did you become one of the favorite rappers in your area? Were you doing a lot of shows or just out hustling CDs? I’m kinda like a rapper/beat maker so I make a lot of beats for people. I’ve always had recording studios out here. I got two recording studios right now. I used to go by Iroc back in the day and a lot of cats know me by my oldschool name. I was one of the only people out here reppin’ Arizona and making songs about it when the industry was passing over Arizona. That’s how I kinda got a little bit of respect out here. You released a double-disc album last year correct? How well did that do? This is my first album under the name Roca Dolla. It’s a double-disc album called Roca is a Classic. We moved about 15,000 units underground. I’m getting ready to drop a new album in July called Roc Solid.
Who is that singing on the “A State” hook? Is that one of your artists? Nah, actually that’s another cat named C Note. He’s pretty known out here. That song is like a lil underground anthem out here. Listening to your music it would be hard to tell where you’re from. How did you achieve such a universal sound? I have a lot of influences and I worked with a lot of cats in the South. I worked with Big Mike from the Geto Boys. I done worked with Quik. I worked with Kool G Rap. I worked with West coast guys, East coast guys. I’ve worked with a lot of different cats on the production tip, and through owning a recording studio and recording everybody. Arizona is one of the biggest melting pots in the United States. I think it’s second to Vegas as far as people that come to live here. Until recently with the new generation, it used to be that nobody was from here. You might have had people moving in from the East coast, or people moving in from the South. Just being around different people and picking up different terminologies made my music bi-coastal. It can have different feels. I try to keep it eclectic. In the ten years you’ve been in the music game, what have been the biggest moments and milestones for you so far? Putting out albums and being recognized for my music, and being recognized by my peers on the underground level. I produced a song for a cat named Scoobie that was on the Billboard Top 10. And Roca is a Classic was the 18th most downloaded rap CD on iTunes. Do you want to plug a website or any events you have during All Star? Log-on to www.rocadolla.com. We throwing the P. Diddy party with Carmelo and Cassidy during All Star Weekend. We’re the only Phoenix artists performing in it. That’s on Saturday at Myst. I got Roc Solid coming out soon, Tray Gutta is coming out soon. He’s one of the young cats out here who’s name constantly comes up. I’m working with Trap too. We might do a mixtape together. We’re just trying to do it big. //
For the average person that’s not in the music industry, tell them how much goes into putting out a successful indie project and promoting it to the point it moves 15,000 units. I hit car shows, got in magazines. I’m out there OZONE MAG // 37