Fans of real hip-hop rejoice, as Roc Marciano just released the hardest record out of New York in a hot minute. Marcberg, in stores today, is a grimey, gritty record that harkens back to the heyday of the Wu-Tang Clan. With it’s hard beats, movie samples, and gangster raps the album has been drawing comparisons to Raekwon’s classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Not only is Marc a great presence on the mic, but he self-produced the entire album. Recently I got the chance to sit down with Roc and discuss the album, his thoughts on NY hip-hop, the passing of Guru, and more. Check it out!:
Tyrone P.: For those who don’t know who you are, could you just introduce yourself?
Roc Marciano: I’m Roc Marcy, Roc Marciano. From Hempstead, Long Island.
TP.: Alright, cool. So let’s talk about the album you have coming out.
RM: Yeah, it’s called Marcberg. It’s done, on May 4th everybody can get it it’ll be available. Yeah that’s what it is.
TP: I know you produced the album entirely by yourself, so who would you consider your inspirations in terms of production? Maybe a top 5?
RM: Large Professor, Pete Rock, Primo, RZA… it’s a lot to name, man. Q-Tip… a lot, man. I’m influenced by a lot of the cats. And new cats like Kanye.
TP: From the producers that you’ve named you’re definitely more into a sort’ve soul-sampled vibe.
RM: Yeah, yeah. I like stuff to sound gritty, you know what I mean? Not always – a lot of samples that I get are not necessarily from soul records, they come from all kinds of music . I just like that obscure, hard-type shit, yeah.
TP: Yeah. The sound of the album is definitely hard – it’s kind of like a throwback to a kind of “Purple Tape”-sound. Was that intentional? Were you trying to go for a less commercial sound or was it just what came to you naturally?
RM: It’s part of what comes to me naturally, and just wanting to make music that I wanted to hear, you know what I’m saying, making music I like to listen to.
TP: Yeah, so what do you like to listen to? Is there anything new that you’re into?
RM: To be honest, I don’t listen to a lot of rap. Like, I’m not the type of dude that walks around the crib and plays music in the background. If I’m at the crib and I’m not working on something new or something, you know I’m fuckin with some basketball or I’m out on the move doing something else. But I don’t just like listening to hip-hop or really any kind of music when I’m at the crib dolo. But when I’m in the mood to listen to music, I listen to more old music just in general. Al Green type shit, that’s what I’m into.
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TP: You’ve become known for your sort of “stream-of-conscious” rapping style, what’s your method when you’re recording in the studio? Do you write or do you just spit what comes to you?
RM: Yeah, I write definitely. It depends, some
