When I mention the frustrations I have with not always being able to cover lesser-known artists I enjoy, he’s nonchalant about it all. And he’s been slowly working his way to becoming NYC’s street boss since releasing his debut solo album, Marcberg, in 2010 (some would say that he sacked it then). Or, at the very least, the godfather of its underground scene. As far as I’m concerned, Roc is a deserving candidate for the King of New York title. If even a mixtape got sold in Union Square, you would’ve had to give Marci a cut. In a different era of rap, the Hempstead, Long Island spitter would have been considered the Rotten Apple’s Frank White. “As far as getting all the love and notoriety, I knew that was just a matter of me putting out more music and just staring in their face.
“I’m not on a major, and I don’t have people in office buildings fighting for dollars for me,” he says. He’s a veteran, though, and isn’t surprised by all the attention he’s been receiving.
Marciano’s prolific run put the 41-year-old rapper in a position to finally get his flowers. Following RR2: The Bitter Dose in February, Roc gave us Behold a Dark Horse and KAOS (with DJ Muggs) in October before teaming up with Adult Swim to close out the year with Pimpstrumentals. After the busy 2018 he had, we have a lot to talk about. I invited Marciano to the East Village restaurant for a meal of crustaceans because it seems like the right kind of place to meet a guy who writes music that makes you feel like a crime boss discussing fates over pasta. “Staying safe is not where I want to be.” In keeping with the mobster decor in New York’s famed John’s of 12th Street, we’re both wearing bibs, so as not to get sauce on our garments. “I make cinematic music that's more for movies and not for clubs, so I think that's the natural progression,” Marciano tells me while grabbing a big piece of shrimp by the tail. Roc Marciano’s biggest goal isn’t to achieve the riches that mainstream success brings, or to go platinum.
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