Rockness Monsta sighting at Rough Trade NYC
March 1st, 2018 by chocko
Rock of the rap duo Heltah Skeltah along with DJ Sky (Anthony Mason lookalike) were at Rough Trade a couple weeks ago to promote Rock’s first solo album titled ROCKNESS A.P. which initially was released on Digital Deja Vu Records last year in September. The A.P. in the title of the album stands for After Price and for those that don’t know that refers to the 2015 untimely passing of Sean Price, an extremely talented and larger than life Brooklyn MC and other half of Heltah Skeltah. The album can be considered a tribute to Price because even Rock admits “every song either has a mention, sample or it’s just all the way about Sean Price.” The album features a stellar list of guest MC’s including Kuniva of D12, Ras Kass, Tek & Steele, Method Man, Inspectah Deck and Raekwon. Most of the production on the album was done by Ford Tuff & Pascal Zumaque. Other producers on the album include The Arcitype, Ron Browz and Coptic. Right now, my favorite track is hardcore banger “FaxMachine” featuring 90’s heavy hitters M.O.P. guaranteed to get you hype to run to Brownsville and back. Another favorite track is “Poof” featuring fellow Boot Camp Clik member Buckshot…hypnotic cali flow. “GW BaG” is probably the catchiest of all the tracks and will have you repeating the chorus in no time and the track “Rockness A.P.” needs a good listen…an honest, autobiographical song where Rock lays it all out. I can’t forget the opening track “Just Rap” with classic sounding drums and keyboards that will get your head nodding until your fitted falls off.
The in-store wasn’t what I expected it to be. Rock didn’t really perform any songs, he just let his DJ play choice tracks off the new album, made comments and interacted with the crowd. He did get out in front of the turntables and rap over the album for a few verses which was sort of a disappointment because the dude is a veteran on the mic and can definitely move the crowd. On a positive note, Rockness was more than gracious in signing albums and posing for photos. Definitely get the album if you love that hip hop music with boom-bap beats and lyrics. You won’t hear real hip hop on the radio and it’s harder to find but it’s out there! Get the album ROCKNESS A.P. at a record store near you!
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Tags: brooklyn, CD, heltah skeltah, hip hop, in-store, record, rock, rockness a.p., rockness monsta, rough trade nyc
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