Born
Rodney Hill, Atlanta rapper
Rocko started in the music industry as a producer and ghostwriter in his cousin's studio around 1999, then afterward for small indie Triple A Records. Based on his success with label act
Hitman Sammy Sam, he ventured out on his own, establishing Rocky Road Records in 2002. Under the imprint, he had a hand in developing artists like
Young Dro and
Dem Franchize Boyz before they graduated to the majors. In 2003,
Rocko penned rhymes for himself and released his first mixtape, NWA (No Wack Artist). However, the attention-grabber was his second mixtape, Swag Season (2007), which boasted features from 2006 breakout rap stars
Jim Jones and
Rick Ross and sold all over Georgia and in neighboring states.
After a front-page feature in Southern rap magazine Ozone,
Island Def Jam signed
Rocko and his imprint for an exclusive deal, which was helped along by an acquaintance of his (through then-girlfriend
Monica),
IDJ urban division president
Jermaine Dupri. Taken from Swag Season, "Umma Do Me" reached number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also acted as the lead single for
Rocko's major-label debut,
Self-Made (2008). The album debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 chart. Plans for a second
Def Jam album were scrapped when the label and
Rocko parted ways.
Rocko subsequently established A1 Recordings as an outlet for mixtapes such as Wild Life (2010), Rocko Dinero (2011), Gift of Gab, and Wordplay (2012), as well as Epic-supported releases from
Future. Gift of Gab 2 (2013) brought "U.O.E.N.O.," featuring cameos from
Rick Ross and
Future. After
Rocko dropped
Ross' controversial verse, the song became a Top 20 pop hit. Another mixtape, Lingo for Dummies, was released in 2014. ~ Cyril Cordor