Rockie Fresh - Rockie's Modern Life

Rockie Fresh - Rockie's Modern Life

When people talk about the evolution of hip-hop, they always say that today's artists are vapid and don't rap about anything. What most of them fail to realize is that hip-hop is cyclical, and that hip-hop hasn't had long enough a history for most people to see that. That said, like the late 1980's, hip-hop is coming back around to lyrical wordplay and having fun. Acts like The Cool Kids, Pac Div, Curren$y, Drake, (insert rest of XXL Freshman 10 here), and now, Rockie Fresh are where the music is heading.

Rockie hails from Chicago (quickly becoming my 2nd favorite hip-hop city), is a private school graduate, and like his statesmen Lupe, Common & Add-2 (we will get on him later, seriously), he has SKILLS. Dude is a wordplay monster. On this mixtape, Rockie's Modern Life, he has punchline after punchline after punchline. It actually doesn't stop. I waited, seriously. And Rockie didn't disappoint. The one thing I can say about Rockie, though, is that he has a serious love affair with talking about how fly he is. Though that's the trend, it's good to see versatility. Overall, Rockie looks like he might be one of the next to blow. The mixtape doesn't have a lot of weak tracks, and keeps you listening. Check the tracklist (back cover), my picks, and some videos after the jump...



Cream of the Crop:
New Chapter
Rockie Go Get Um
Do the Dance
Gone (Interlude) - (He goes IN on the industry)
Welcome
Rockie Fresh
Fire Bed
Chill

Cream of the Crap:
Get on the Floor (didn't like the beat)
I'm Fly (good lyrics, but a played out concept)