Wikipedia

The R.O.C. (rapper)

(Redirected from Welcome To The Darkside)

Bryan Kareen Jones (born October 31, 1973), better known by his stage name The R.O.C. (Raps On Contact),[2] is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan.[3] He is a founding member of the group House of Krazees, which was originally active from 1992 until 1997, when Hektic (Monoxide) and Mr. Bones (Jamie Madrox) left to form Twiztid, who were subsequently signed to Psychopathic Records.

The R.O.C.
Birth nameBryan Kareen Jones[1]
Also known asSol46
Born (1973-10-31) October 31, 1973 (age 51)
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
GenresHip hop
OccupationRapper
Years active1990–2009; 2012–present
Labels
Member ofHouse of Krazees
Websitewww.iamtheroc.com

After performing as the hype man for Blaze Ya Dead Homie,[4] R.O.C. signed to Hatchet House in 2008. After briefly retiring beginning in 2009, The R.O.C. came out of retirement.[5]

The R.O.C. also has a younger brother named Mr. Y.U.G. (Formerly known as RAGZ), who is a known Detroit artist, and has also been featured on many of his tracks, as well as Cousin Evol of Detroit. He also has other younger brothers that made music, but were not as involved. Rann, Killjoy (who is in lockdown), and Chosen Blessed who was killed in a shooting. The R.O.C. is also cousin of Bamm & Esham (The Boogieman a.k.a. The Unholy) through marriage.

Career

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The R.O.C.'s first album was released with his cousin Big Father Hightop (Evol of Detroit) & produced by Esham under Strength Productions, titled "Rollin' With Strength". In late 1992, The R.O.C. teamed up with fellow Detroit emcees Paul Methric and Jamie Spaniolo, and the trio then formed House of Krazees.[6] The R.O.C. was first originally the producer of the group and was asked to perform on a couple tracks and it was then decided by Jamie (who went by the name of Mr. Bones) and Paul (who went by the name of Hektic) that he would be the third member. House of Krazees' catalog was only released on cassette until the group signed to Latnem Intertainment.[7] Problems between House of Krazees and Latnem led the group to leave the label following its 1996 album, Head Trauma.[7] House of Krazees officially disbanded in 1997, due to conflicts with their manager, Walter Stepanenko (Latnem Int. CEO).[7][8] The R.O.C changed his rap name to Sol46. Madrox and Monoxide left to join Psychopathic Records in late 1997 as Twiztid. In early 1999, Skrapz joined The R.O.C. to help finish HOK's last album 'The Night They Kame Home', and the House of Krazees name was then retired. After the last House of Krazees album, The R.O.C. formed a group with local Detroit acts known as "The Howse" and released one album, titled Esohpromatem which is Metamorphose backwards. It consisted of three official members and a fourth as a feature. They were The R.O.C. (which he went by for the album), Armageddon, The Beast, and Black Widow (Miz Korona) as the feature. Mr. Vitology of Vitology Music Group produced the album and Beast later joined Detroits IT5 Tribe a.k.a. The Indigenous Tribe as Morpheus. The album was also released under HOK's label Latnem Int. After the Howse disbanded and The R.O.C. ended his relationship with Latnem Int., The R.O.C. a.k.a. SOL released another solo album and his only under his second stage name, titled Wormholes. After HOK and The Howse disbanded, SOL and Skrapz formed Halfbreed on their own record label, Virus Independent with label mates Mr. F.Reeze (later Dial81) and brother Mr. Y.U.G. and his group 2winn Gunnz with friend 1-I-Bandit, for five albums until its eventual disbandment in 2003 due to the members wanting to pursue different styles and sounds, ultimately leading to mutual musical differences.

The R.O.C. later became the hype man for Psychopathic Records artist Blaze Ya Dead Homie.[4] He appears on Blaze's 2007 album Clockwork Gray, on the tracks "Ill Connect", "Inside Looking Out" and "E.O.D." The R.O.C. signed to Hatchet House in 2008[9] and released an EP, Welcome To The Darkside.[10] In Blaze Ya Dead Homie's pamphlet in Clockwork Gray there was a promotion for a new group formed called Zodiac MPrint composed of The R.O.C.' and Blaze Ya Dead Homie and their new album titled Horrorscope to be released in 2008. Nothing came of the album and The R.O.C. left in 2009. Also on Clockwork Gray, there was a song by a group called Samhein Witch Killaz composed of Zodiac MPrint and Twiztid. They were set to release their debut album titled Bloodletting but after The R.O.C. left Hatchet House the group disbanded. In 2011 on Twiztid's official Twitter account they were asked if Samhein Witch Killaz would ever reform and release another song or their debut album, and the response was "No". Now that Twiztid, Blaze Ya Dead Homie and The R.O.C. are no longer on Psychopathic Records, Samhein Witch Killaz could possibly reform and release their debut album on Twiztid's new record label.

In 2009, R.O.C. announced that he was retiring from music.[11] In 2012, he came out of retirement and appeared on Prozak's EP Nocturnal, contributing a verse on "Knuckle Up".[3][5] R.O.C. also appeared on Psychopathic's fourth "Psypher", released in October 2012.[12] R.O.C. and Skrapz in 2012 have announced that HalfBreed has reunited as well as Level Jumpers with Dial81, there are no details of their next release, only a few released tracks. R.O.C. has said that he will release a solo album titled, Digital Voodoo. R.O.C., Mr. Bones and Hektic revived House of Krazees in early 2013 and were featured on Twiztid's A New Nightmare EP. Also House of Krazees released a greatest hits compilation titled Casket Cutz on October 23, 2013. Since The R.O.C. has returned to music he has been tweeting about bumping rough cuts of new Zodiac MPrint songs on his official Twitter account. Shortly after Zodiac MPrint created their own official Twitter account. They have been dropping hints about their new album, but not saying very much. The name Skywalkers has been talked about a lot. Also Zodiac MPrint was featured on 2 songs (Beware of the Wolf) and (Gettin Wu Wit It) off of Twiztid's 4 Tha Fam Vol. 2 mixxtape which was released on March 27, 2014. The R.O.C. makes his first appearance on a Blaze Ya Dead Homie album for the first time in seven years, it is his first appearance on a Blaze album since Clockwork Gray. It was announced in mid-October 2014 through his various social media accounts that The R.O.C. will release a new single titled "Don't Look Behind You" during Twiztid's Fright Fest Tour 2014, but only for October 30, October 31 and November 1 dates.

On May 4, 2015, it was announced that The R.O.C. will be rereleasing X-Posed and Oh Hell No! digitally. During Twiztid and Blaze Ya Dead Homie's 2015 GOTJ seminar it was announced that The R.O.C.'s debut album on the label will be out in early 2016. On July 10, 2016, it was announced that The R.O.C. will release a new EP at the GOTJ 2016. No title has been given but speculation has it that it will be titled "The Fucking Preylewd".

On January 1, 2017 The R.O.C. was invited to participate in the Juggalo March On Washington. On January 3, 2017, he declined the invitation.[13]

Discography

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Solo career

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Zodiac MPrint

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House of Krazees

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  • Home Sweet Home (1993)
  • Home Bound (1994)
  • Season Of The Pumpkin (1994)
  • Outbreed (1995)
  • Head Trauma (1996)
  • Collectors Edition 97 ("Remix & Rewind") (1997)
  • The Night They Kame Home (1999)
  • Casket Cutz (2013)
  • Post Apocalyptic World (2018)

Samhein Witch Killaz

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  • Bloodletting EP (September 2024)

HalfBreed

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  • Serial Killaz
  • Killaz Of The World (Unreleased)
  • KontamiNATION
  • Rage of The Plague
  • The End

The Howse

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  • Esohpromatem

Level Jumpers

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  • Simply Complex
  • Red Pyramid

Guest appearances

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Year Song Artist Album
2007 "Feel Me" Twiztid Independents Day
2008 "Bodies Fall" (w/ Tech N9ne, Kutt Calhoun, & Blaze Ya Dead Homie) Prozak Tales From The Sick
2012 "Vengeance" T.O.N.E-Z Underground Collabos
"Underground Spittaz" (w/ Daddy X, The Dirtball, & Whitney Peyton)
"Knuckle Up" (w/ The Dirtball) Prozak Nocturnal EP
2013 "Who Am I?" (w/ Scum & PSYCHOjesus) Bukshot Helter Skelter: The Deluxe Edition
Monstrosity Twiztid A New Nightmare
2015 "Killing Me" (w/ Krizz Kaliko, & Blaze Ya Dead Homie Prozak Black Ink
2016 "Fast Life" 614 Villainz The Return
"Diabolic" Kung Fu Vampire Look Alive
"They Call That Gangsta" (w/Lex "The Hex" Master) Blaze Ya Dead Homie The Casket Factory
2017 Psychomania (w/Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Lex "The Hex" Master, G-Mo Skee & Boondox) Twiztid The Continuous Evilution Of Life's ?'s
2018 "Exit Wounds" (w/ Psycho Jesus, Liquid Assassin, Kidcrusher, Whitney Peyton, Ajax, Grewsum, Scum, F-Dux, Jason Porter, Ronnie Blaze, Darko, Sutter Kain, Kung Fu Vampire, & Mars) Underground Avengers Apollyon Edition
2019 "Robbin' Hood" (w/ Lex "The Hex" Master) Blaze Ya Dead Homie Graveyard Greats
"Wasted 3" (w/ Twiztid, Rittz, Young Wicked, King Gordy, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, G-Mo Skee, & Redd) Various Songs To Smoke To
"Keep Movin'"
2020 "Real Talk" Redd Symphony of Sympathy

Music videos

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Year Title Director(s) Album Artist Role
2017 Digital Voodoo Digital Voodoo The R.O.C. Main Performer
Outlined In Chalk (w/Twiztid, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Lex "The Hex" Master, G-Mo Skee, Gorilla Voltage & Young Wicked) The Murder Boondox Featured Performer
2018 Sleeper Cell (w/Whitney Peyton & R.A. the Rugged Man) Digital Voodoo The R.O.C. Main Performer

Group music videos

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Year Title Director(s) Album Artist Role
2016 Keep It Jumpin' Ride The Stars EP Zodiac MPrint Main Performer
2018 Death 4 Any1 Who.... No Album House Of Krazees

Awards and nominations

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Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2018 Digital Voodoo Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Rap Recording Nominated [20]
2019 Himself Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Rap Artist Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "DIABOLIC (FEAT. THE R.O.C)". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  2. ^ "R.O.c. | Free Music, Mixes, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "'We Wanted It To Be Right' – The R.O.C. Discusses Working With Prozak For 'Knuckle Up' – Prozak – The Hitchcock of Hip Hop". Therealprozak.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  4. ^ a b A Family Underground documentary
  5. ^ a b Liner notes for Nocturnal by Prozak indicate that The R.O.C. appears "courtesy of Psychopathic Records".
  6. ^ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (2003). "Banned by a Filthy Rat". In Nathan Fostey (ed.). ICP: Behind the Paint (2nd ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 306–314. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
  7. ^ a b c Cordor, Cyril. "Madrox Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  8. ^ Bruce, Joseph; Hobey Echlin (August 2003). "Life on the Road". In Nathan Fostey (ed.). ICP: Behind the Paint (second ed.). Royal Oak, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. pp. 353–365. ISBN 0-9741846-0-8.
  9. ^ Insane Clown Posse (presenters) (January 18, 2008). Weekly Freekly Weekly Jan 2008 (internet news). Detroit, Michigan: Psychopathic Records. Event occurs at 0:55. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Welcome to the Dark Side by The R.O.C. : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  11. ^ Jones, Bryan (September 9, 2009). Settin' the Record Straight. MySpace. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012.
  12. ^ "Psypher 4". YouTube. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  13. ^ "The Concert – Juggalo March on Washington – Sept 16th, 2017". juggalomarch.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Music Made Me Do It : The R.O.C. : Rolling With Strength". Musicmademe.com. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  15. ^ "X-Posed by The R.O.C. : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  16. ^ "Bits & Pieces by The R.O.C. : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  17. ^ "I'm Here by The R.O.C. : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  18. ^ "Oh Hell No! by The R.O.C. : Reviews and Ratings". Rate Your Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  19. ^ "The R.O.C. Announces "Monsters Ain't Real" EP! Out November 15th!". Faygoluvers.net. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  20. ^ "Detroit Music Awards Foundation – Nominees". www.detroitmusicawards.net. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
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