The new artist is
a catch twenty-two role. You have to bring something new, but you have to fit
within the familiarities of the listener’s ear. Rosco P. Coldchain might be doing
the impossible. At a time where nobody believes the thug anymore, Rosco’s stories
echo with an eerie truth. In an era where everybody wants to say that they’ve
been hip-hop forever, Rosco admits his
previous other priorities.
Coldchain spares
no expense in his words or his production budget. With an album on the horizon
that has the hype and the sounds to keep you warm in the Winter, it’s time to
spotlight the man in advance. In a candid Allhiphop interview, Rosco makes bold
statements about his potential riches, the awaited album, and may even poke
a shot at somebody close to his camp. You want the specifics? Read on.
Allhiphop: "Cot
Damn" is going crazy and won’t stop. As a new artist, how much confidence
has that success given you in terms of dropping a debut album?
Rosco P Coldchain:
A whole lot. Actually, we thought the label was gonna do what it had to do when
we brought "Hot Damn" out. But in didn’t do that, ‘cuz it went over
a lot of peoples’ heads. So now, it’s a whole re-grouping situation. I just
gotta slow it down from ’em. I definitely wanna hurry up and really get my album
out.
Allhiphop: The
big rumor was that y’all brought in Premier and Alchemist late in the album’s
process. True?
RPC: Haha! Yes
indeed! It’s definitely true. We got Alchemist. We got Premier. We got Timbaland,
possibly. [We got] Kanye West. We definitely have an array of producers on the
album.
Allhiphop: Coming
up on Star Trak, how demanding are the Neptunes as producers and executives?
RPC: Honestly,
Pharrell and Chad, both of them are hard workers. And like really, you just
gotta fit in. Go with the program or just get pushed back. It’s with anything
– if you don’t work hard, you’re gonna get what you put into it. They hard workers,
and I gotta work hard with ’em. They definitely push me and give me the stride
to keep it goin’.
Allhiphop: A common
criticism might be that your album is banging, but doesn’t get personal. So,
from you, I wanna hear what’s your most personal track and why?
RPC: It’s called
"Blue Car". It’s featuring Pharrell. Right now, "Blue Car"
is the one for me. Because it explains everything. Just me from the times it
was messed up to the times of the deal and everything of that nature. It’s definitely
a story-telling [track]. That’s sort of my niche. I like to tell stories and
give a n#### a visual of what I’m talking about.
Allhiphop: My favorite
cut off the advance is "This Beat is Hot." That’s probably the closest
thing I heard as far as new-old-school. Tell me about designing this cut, because
it’s huge.
RPC: Let me tell
you about that track. I didn’t like that track at first, Paine. I said, "Pharrell,
what the Hell is this?" He had the genius. We laid it. It came out well.
I still didn’t like it. Because, to me, around the time we made that – a lot
of people had took that scenario. You see [that] old school’s in right now.
That trend didn’t start because heads inside of the club wanted it. I mean,
yes, everything evolves in a circle. But Pharrell brought that back. What happened
was, I’m not even gonna say no names, but a certain individual heard the song,
and the next week one of his artists came with a similiar beat, nah mean, and
the whole 80’s thing going for her, or him. But, it kinda stole our idea. Nobody
can do it like Pharrell can. But in the same token, that just made me dislike
the song even more. Just ‘cuz people were like, "We gonna try to immitate
that." That whole feel. All in all, it’s the original.
It’s the trend-setting song regardless.
Allhiphop: I think
you’re one of the first artists in recent years to really represent North Philly
in the mainstream. The video captures the essence. Because it’s been a minute
since somebody really took the torch outta there, how is the local love especially
with this new sound, how are heads adapting to it?
RPC: I would say
that they’re adapting very well. It’s kind of funny because, for a minute, when
the mainstream came back, and finally made its rounds back to Philly as far
as the Rap Industry – it was a trend that everybody sounded kind of light. We
got our own uniqueness, but in the same token, there were a lot of cats sounding
like certain individuals that was already on from Philly. Then it kinda messed
up the whole reputation of [Philly]. Just as far as me, I plan on bringing in
back. That’s all I’m sayin’. I want to change that whole groove. Everybody’s
lovin’ it. Everybody’s sayin’ I’m different. That’s a start. I’m still in the
street everyday. I ain’t goin’ nowhere. They see me everyday. So, "And
he’s keepin’ it real." They see Pharrell, they expect me to be like him.
Like one of these cats to leave the hood. It like I can’t, but I won’t. Not
right now. I need the streets.
Allhiphop: You
say that on the record, "I’m well off, but I’m not rich."
RPC: That’s the
truth, absolutely! I’m well off, but I’m not rich. I’m content with being broke.
The broker you are, the realer you are. I won’t miss nothin’. If I was, God
willing, if everything goes according to plan, I’m good – I’m good. I’m rich
– I’m rich. Right now I’m well off. I’m content. As long as I keep my sanity,
I’m good.
Allhiphop: You’re
being billed as a new artist. In respects to the dues you paid, talk about pre-Star
Trak Roscoe P.
RPC: As an artist,
I was always off and on. I was always in the basement. While everybody was rockin’
on a MPC, I’m in there on a Casio keyboard or some s### like that in my man’s
basement. It came to a point in time where I really couldn’t do it. I was slackin’
on it. And I was like, "This s### ain’t feedin’ me. This s### ain’t put
no money on my table." I always been the type to hustle or rob somebody
or something like that. I always into the s### I was talkin’. I always had a
dream for it, it was definitely secondary until Pharrell came along. And it
still took a whole lot of convincing. This type of talk we having right now
is convincing me more than anything else. Honestly man, it still ain’t fully
hit me. But yeah, I was definitley into drugs. I was definitely outta town selling
drugs. I had my sons. I was in a lot of shoot outs and s###. It was average
hood s### I was going through.
Allhiphop: And
you submitted a demo to Pharrell, or what?
RPC: I was sitting
on the corner. It was on some real s###! I was on the corner. I see this weirdo.
I was like, "Who the Hell is dude?" And then recognized. I said, "Damn,
I know dude. This is the dude from that damn video." He was in Kelis’ video
at the time. He was having a conversation on the street with Rob Walker. And
I said, "Yo man, there’s some high cats in Philly, but you need to holla
at Rosco P." Because that’s what they were talkin’ bout. "Rosco P.
Who’s Rosco P?" So, I’m like, "Aiight, hold on, I’mma go get him for
you." So, he’s sitting there. I’m rollin’ my weed. He’s like, "Where’s
Rosco?" So I spit it, and he was like, "Let me see if it’s real."
So he sent like ten cats at me. [I] chopped em up, spit ’em out. He was like,
"Don’t talk to nobody." [We exchanged numbers.] He called back in
like two weeks. Two weeks later, I was up in Virginia recording: Me, the Clipse,
and [Philly’s] Most Wanted. A song called "Release". It went down
like that.
Look for Rosco
P Coldchain’s debut, dropping on Star Trak Records this Fall.
