Rahkeim Calief Meyer (born February 11, 1978), better known by his stage name Roc Marciano, is an American rapper and record producer from Long Island, New York. He is known for his intricate internal rhymes and wordplay detailing mafioso and pimp themes over sample based production. He has been called the "Godfather of the Underground" for pioneering the resurgence of gritty, lyrical rap and use of drumless sample loops in the early 2010s with his highly influential debut album Marcberg.[1]
Marciano has gone on to release 10 studio albums and a variety of mixtapes and EPs, most of which are almost entirely produced by Marciano himself with the notable exceptions of The Alchemist produced The Elephant Man's Bones and the DJ Muggs produced KAOS. He frequently collaborates with the two, in addition to other underground artists such as Knowledge the Pirate, Ka, Action Bronson, Flee Lord, and various members of the Griselda collective while also producing for other artists.
Career
Roc Marciano started his career in 1999 when he joined the Flipmode Squad and made his first appearances on “Whatcha Come Around Here For” and “The Heist". Marciano left in 2001 to form the U.N., a hardcore underground hip hop group consisting of three other MCs (Dino Brave, Laku & deceased member Mic Raw) with whom he released an album on Carson Daly's 456 Entertainment in 2004. Roc Marciano appeared on the 2005 Wu-Tang Clan compilation album, Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture, and in Pete Rock's 2008 album, NY's Finest, drawing acclaim[2] for such performances. Since 2008, Roc Marciano has been working on his solo career, and to widespread internet acclaim,[3] released his entirely self-produced debut album, Marcberg[4] on May 4, 2010 to critical acclaim.
In 2011, Roc Marciano collaborated with Gangrene to release the collaborative EP Greneberg. His second solo album, Reloaded, was released on November 15, 2012, which Allmusic described as "Grim and exultant at once, this is low-profile hustling on wax at its finest."[5] He also collaborated with Kendrick Lamar and Consequence on Up Against the Wall which is featured on Consequence's mixtape, "Movies on Demand 2".[6]
In late 2013, Marciano released a free mixtape, The Pimpire Strikes Back. The mixtape served as preface to his third studio album, Marci Beaucoup, that was entirely produced by him and had featured artists such as Action Bronson, Evidence, Ka, Maffew Ragazino, Quelle Chris and more.
On February 21, 2017, Roc Marciano released his fourth studio album Rosebudd's Revenge via his website RocMarci.com. The album features Ka and Knowledge the Pirate, frequent Roc Marciano collaborators, and production from The Arch Druids, Mushroom Jesus, Modus Op, Knxwledge, and Roc Marciano himself.
On February 27, 2018, Marciano released his fifth studio album RR2: The Bitter Dose, via his website RocMarci.com. The album features guest appearances from Knowledge the Pirate and Action Bronson and production from E.L.E.M.N.T., Animoss, Don Cee, and Roc Marciano himself.
Freemusicempire named Roc Marciano as 2018 MVP. Dan-O commented "Our newly crowned FME MVP of 2018 released three albums this year. Each handled with a curators eye; three albums with a total of 36 songs which averages to 12 songs per album. Each one shading his story a different hue, taking a step further in creating a full landscape while maintaining a two fisted approach to punch lines that would have made prized pugilist Rocky Marciano proud."[7]
