After a string of mixtapes, Rockie Fresh has finally unleashed his debut studio album titled Destination. The Chicago native splits his time between Los Angeles and The Chi, but it was his initial move to LA where he met Casey Veggies that his rap career took off. Together, they unleashed Fresh Veggies, one of the greatest joint projects in hip-hop to date.
Fast forward to 2019, Rockie continues to do what he loves, which is make music.
Destination is a 12-track project laced with features from Chris Brown, 24Hrs, Casey Veggies, and Arin Ray, giving fans a diverse plate of sounds and styles to vibe to.
AllHipHop: Congrats on Destination! How has the fan reception been?
Rockie Fresh: Thank you. It’s been dope, the fans really been rocking with it. People didn’t expect me to come out with no album anytime soon. Because I’ve been holding out on music for a while trying to get the right situation for it and also just perfecting it. I switched labels. I was with Atlantic when I first started the project, now I’m with Rostrom. Interchanging situations and getting new inspiration, had to just improve the music. But it all worked out for the better.
AllHipHop: What happened with Atlantic?
Rockie Fresh: It was just I honored the time of my contract, then I was able to bust some new moves. Rostrom gave me a really cool situation that granted me a little bit more ownership of my own stuff. That’s really it. I still got love for my Atlantic fam though, shout out my boy Dallas and all them for holding it down.
AllHipHop: What was the significance in the title Destination?
Rockie Fresh: It’s just the point of arrival. It’s technically my first album, I put out probably 11 mixtapes getting to this point. It’s the arriving point of people getting a higher quality of music from me in a way that’s a lot more accessible than it used to be. Most of my projects are on Datpiff and SoundCloud, this is the first one that’s been officially debuted on the streaming services. I just want to continue that run for them.
AllHipHop: What is your end destination?
Rockie Fresh: My end destination is hopefully my fern for generations to come can be successful and have an easier life based off the things that I’ve obtained from doing the music. That’s really it, I want to leave that legacy for my people to where my daughter’s kids and their kids can benefit from the things I did while I was here.
AllHipHop: Best part of teaming up with Chris Brown on “Must Be”?
Rockie Fresh: The best part about that was basically making a dream come true really. I’ve always been a huge fan of Chris since he first came out. When I first started making music, he’s always somebody that I wanted to work with. To be able to collaborate with him as much as we have, it’s a dream come true for me. Every time I see that record, it shows that hard work paid off.
AllHipHop: Has he given you any advice?
Rockie Fresh: Oh yeah Chris gives me a ton of advice, he teaches me a lot. He leads a lot well too by example, more than people give him credit for. He gave me a lot of advice, even with the music. You see with him, he’s dropping 40 song albums because he never stops working. That’s one big thing I learned from him: to stay recording, stay ready, and keep the music on deck.
AllHipHop: Who are your top artists in rotation?
Rockie Fresh: Really the homies. Because at the end of the day, I’m working so much on my own stuff. I watch more interviews from artists. I respect the story behind the place that they got. I rock with all artists, and it makes me respect them more when I watch their interviews. But with the music, I’m so busy with my own s##t that I haven’t super dove into nobody’s project in a minute.
AllHipHop: What are some interviews you’ve seen recently?
Rockie Fresh: I just watched a couple Tory Lanez interviews. Tory’s my boy so everything that he talks about in his interviews is super dope. I rock with his interviews. Who else I watched? I mean, you have to give a shout out to DaBaby. He doing his thing right now. He’s got his presence in the game. I watch a lot of underground s##t too. There’s a real famous Chicago interviewer named ZachTV, he used to do a lot of up and coming chicago music like Chief Keef, Lil Durk, s##t like that. But he passed away, he got killed in Chicago so there’s been some new guys taking over what he’s doing. I be tapped in to the up and coming artists because one day, I want to sign somebody soon.
AllHipHop: What do you look for in an artist you want to sign?
Rockie Fresh: Someone who has a lot of creativity, in a sense they know where they want to go with their videos, with their sound, with their flow. If they’re a singer, with their vocals. Something that’s real distinct. I’m real big on fashion, so I like the kind of artist that has a dope style about ‘em. So many things.