Can we discuss how Roc Marciano brought the “soul” back to the underground scene

[Newark88]

Before Marcberg dropped, for a lil over a decade the underground scene was bland for the most part. Growing up I fukked with both underground and mainstream music, especially during the early & mid 90's when both worlds were more intertwined with one another. But once the late 90's came, it was definitely a split between the 2 parties. I always was a fan of bar driven, substance heavy music. That was always my preference. But I was also a n*gga deep in the streets getting into whatever that lifestyle had to offer. Post 98 going into the 00's, the underground scene wasn't speaking to me and others like that anymore. With the exception of Little Brother and releases from Sean Price and of course Doom, underground rap became known for corny emo white nerd rap during the 00's. The emergence of Roc fully coming into his own gave the underground scene a much needed boost. I said it in another post, before Roc, it was almost considered a sin being an underground rapper and being dipped up, pushing a nice foreign whip, popping champagne, etc. Roc bridged the gap and made it cool again to spit hard sh*t and make non conformist music while being on that fly sh*t. This laid the foundation for your Griseldas of the world prospering today. As we go into a new decade, as Drake, Kendrick, and Cole changed the landscape in the 10's on a mainstream level, Roc changed the landscape for the game on an underground level.

 

[Mr. Negative]

yeah, it was like that mid 90s fly talk died out. Marci took that sound and evolved it when the game was tired of skinny jean drugged out snap rap.

Like he was a one man Ghost and Rae when rap didn't have that..... that..... I don't know what to call it. But the game was missing it.

It's like with the onset of social media, everything kinda started to sound alike and that sound just got phased out.

Marci kicked that closed door in and came in firing.


Does anybody have a timeline or chart of releases? Cause I went from Marci to Bronson to Ka, but I know cats was bubbling and I missed out on a lotta waves.

Griselda was being talked about on here for a good long while before the world caught on

 

[old boy]

nah shyt is facts, before roc marci underground rap was ofay nasal-toned square shyt that didn't resonate with the die hard contingent. underground as i remembered it from '90 to about cannibal ox cold vein became wack white boy shyt you would not bump period

besides the obvious few you mentioned you had dudes like mc paul barman. jesus christ

thank god for marc

 

[Zero]

Take it from a guy who used to partake in the cac takeover from 01 to 07

 

[Zero]

yeah, it was like that mid 90s fly talk died out. Marci took that sound and evolved it when the game was tired of skinny jean drugged out snap rap.

Like he was a one man Ghost and Rae when rap didn't have that..... that..... I don't know what to call it. But the game was missing it.

It's like with the onset of social media, everything kinda started to sound alike and that sound just got phased out.

Marci kicked that closed door in and came in firing.


Does anybody have a timeline or chart of releases? Cause I went from Marci to Bronson to Ka, but I know cats was bubbling and I missed out on a lotta waves.

Griselda was being talked about on here for a good long while before the world caught on

Even Ka switched his shyt up and he stands right beside Roc.

He dropped Iron Works in 2008 and that was....rather mediocre. Kinda wack if we're being honest. Especially a disappointment after the Firehouse verse on GZA's Pro Tools. Marci dropped Marcberg and Reloaded, both featuring Ka, and nobody can tell me the influence wasn't apparent because when Ka dropped Grief Pedigree in 2012....the rest is history

 

[Saint of Commerce]

Modern day "Renaissance Man" so 2 speak.Since Marcielago dropped I feel like he pretty much claimed his spot as the greatest artist of this decade 4 me. Even b4 his latest, I felt like that, now it's pretty much undisputable, roc's discography>>>>90% of the game. Music wise, I'm ready 4 him 2 shed his skin, not ditch his style but add in new concepts and maybe get just a lil more personal. It'll only bulster his catalogue. I feel he's mastered his current style, and I don't wanna see him plateau. When it's all said and done, he's more than likely gonna shuffle some1 outta my top 5. I hope he keeps making music until the sun burns out, he's a pillar in hip hop.

 

[The Jewnited States]

Yeah his impact and discography is undeniable at this point. His 2nd wind and "reinvention" is probably the most impressive and unexpected besides the tity boi -> 2chainz transformation.

As much as people say roc doesn't switch his style up, you'd think he was pusha t or some shyt. Personally I feel like if you listen to all his projects it's easy to hear the differences in sound. RR2 sounds nothing like marcberg which sounds nothing like reloaded etc. Even as a vocal performer you can hear the differences in how he approaches a song. She's more comfortable experimenting with off-kilter flows and unorthodox rhyme schemes. Whereas on marcberg he's a more traditional NYC multies rhyming street dude out of the Kool g rap and Sean price mold. His obscure references and humor have come out in his writing recently and it has made for very comical and interesting rhymes that have gotten comparisons made to MF Doom

I have a lot more to add to this post but I have to do that later. I'll just leave it with this note: he's one of the dopest ever and easily top 5 ever in the underground

 

[Bigblackted4]

One person I just don’t get.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

Is Roc still considered underground though?

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

Roc has a unique story in that he was the young homie to a popular established artist (Busta), at the height of his power. He went super underground with the European collaborations to keep himself sharp. By the time Marcberg came around, he was fully in tune with what he wanted to do, and the character he put forward on the record.

He somehow cracked the matrix when it came to keeping his name relevant, when he wasn't putting out a ton of material. I think cats like WSG and them look up to him because he is the guy who got the stamp of approval from the originators of that style in real time, when he first touched down. I also feel like he paid forward to Aaron Cook$ on 'Marcielago' what Busta did for him on 'The Heist' which is because Busta signed Cook$ too. I have to that.

I think his age adds to the authenticity of his work too. He is old enough to have been the young shooter around established acts like Rae and Ghost, and I think that he's talking to a demographic that is old enough to have grown up on and loved the same style of music he's doing now.

I've heard him say that Kool Keith was an influence and I can definitely see it in him. He has almost the same output as Keith when he was signing with a bunch of different labels under different names. The consistentcy of his music definitely reminds me of Doom's 00's run though.

 

[Zero]

Is Roc still considered underground though?

Absolutely.

You see how short this thread is, just for starters

 

[Newark88]

nah shyt is facts, before roc marci underground rap was ofay nasal-toned square shyt that didn't resonate with the die hard contingent. underground as i remembered it from '90 to about cannibal ox cold vein became wack white boy shyt you would not bump period

besides the obvious few you mentioned you had dudes like mc paul barman. jesus christ

thank god for marc

Word. What we look like riding around listening to that corny cac shyt ?

 

[Barnett114]

Absolutely.

You see how short this thread is, just for starters

Stopped messing with the underground after 2009-11, what's some stuff to check out

 

[Zero]

Stopped messing with the underground after 2009-11, what's some stuff to check out

You can't go wrong with a Roc or Ka album at this point.

Check out (Lil) Eto's work too. He's like the bridge between those 2 as far as themes. Omerta with V-Don was probably the best EP of 2017.

Griselda is on the rise if you're not following them. Start at Flygod and Reject 2 from 2015 and work your way on down.

Mach-Hommy is the best kept secret in rap right now but good luck finding his shyt, affordable or otherwise. HBO is a good starting point.

Billy Woods and Elucid are fantastic but might be too left field on first listen. They make up the group Armand Hammer and all 3 albums are great. Their solos are excellent too for the most part.

 

[Nobodyknows]

Someone put me on