You must have something going if you get signed after someone hears one rhyme from you. Moreover, it’s even better if that someone is Young Jeezy. Roccett had been traveling with him and partying out of town, but, he didn’t know about the gem he had under his nose. Promptly after hearing the LA native spit; he signed a joint venture with Green Up Entertainment and Corporate Thugs Entertainment.

Similar to Jezzy in subject matter, but different in the style department, Roccett is ready to bring more notice to the West. Official in the streets and in good situation, he just may pull it off. Want a reason? He has the streets on his side and buzz that’s developing nation wide. He’s also backed by Makaveli Branded clothing and Roccett is not to be confused as a sidekick.

He took a moment to talk about that buzz among other things. He speaks on the number of “established” guys in the industry and the chances of those being fake. In addition, he puts us up on game concerning the unity of the West Coast and what is the “New West?”

JayRich: What’s the design for your release; you dropping right after Jeezy?

Roccett: “We right after Jeezy, whenever he move, we moving next. Soon as he finished, we ready.”

JayRich: Are you being featured on his album as well?

Roccett: “I really couldn’t tell you. He got a little secret formula going on or something.”

JayRich: You haven’t asked him about getting on anything?

Roccett: “Naw, we focused on our stuff.”

JayRich: What your buzz looking like outside of Cali?

Roccett: “I got a crazy St.Louis buzz, I got a crazy New York buzz, I got some folks in Miami, and I know a lot of BMF cats. Whenever they at, we there. We buzzing in Atlanta too.”

JayRich: With that buzz, how that does change performing out of state?

Roccett: “It really don’t change too much. They still don’t really know yo music. They wanna see you do something different.”

JayRich: How did you get started in Hip-Hop?

Roccett: “I would rap in high school and they would tell me that I was tight, but, I really didn’t get that serious until after school. I got into the studio and kept grinding and grinding and the name kept getting bigger and bigger.”

JayRich: What happened to your basketball career; I heard you were pretty good.

Roccett: “I was really hooping then I got into trouble my senior year…. So that knocked that off.”

JayRich: You got senioritis?

Roccett: “Naw, I got into legal trouble. That messed that up and jumped right into music.”

JayRich: You got recruited heavy?

Roccett: “Yeah, I had a lot of little colleges looking at me, but once that legal trouble come everybody stopped looking.”

JayRich: How you hook-up with Jeezy and CTE?

Roccett: “I used to party with Jeezy a lot and go out of town with him. He didn’t even know I rapped. He did a show out here in Cali and came outside and heard me rapping with some cats. After that he was like, “Man, I do something with you.” And from there we’ve been rolling.”

JayRich: He heard you battling?

Roccett: “Naw, we just be freestyling and stuff. We don’t do too much battling out this way.”

JayRich: Why don’t you battle; I know being associated with Jezzy got you a lot of haters?

Roccett: “West Coast, we don’t do that at all. That’s an automatic no-no out here. Niggas getting to shooting you say the wrong thing…..Yeah it’ll be some gunplay; in battling any and everything can be said. Yo mama this, yo cousin that…We don’t play that.”

JayRich: What about the outright challenges from being affiliated with Jeezy?

Roccett: “That’s really rare. Out this way, if you official, you don’t get drama like that. You might get somebody every now and then. Don’t nobody really be like, “This me, this what I’m saying and this what it is.” It’s a lot of politics out here and the reputation is everything.”

JayRich: What do you stand for since you brought you it up?

Roccett: “West Coast music is real street music. It’s about what you’ve been through, what you rep, and all that. That’s usually what it is, plus it’s a lot of Bloods and Crips out here.”

JayRich: You made a cameo in the “Say I” video; was that planned?

Roccett: “Yeah, that was for everybody to get a first look at me. That’s was the a way to get the buzz started.”

JayRich: What do you find yourself talking about mostly in your songs?

Roccett: “Everything; the streets cover all that. Slangin, the childhood, the bangin, the women, and everything that come with the streets.”

JayRich: What are you doing different from everybody else because everyone’s videos look the same.

Roccett: “90% of them ain’t telling the truth though. That’s why the streets love Jeezy cause of what he do. Maybe the whole world ain’t doing it, but when he say, “4 and a baby,” niggas know what he talking about. So you go out there and tell the truth people get behind you. That’s why Pac was so loved; he talked about things that people went through and it really wasn’t any punchlines involved with it. He just said how his day went and the majority of the time, he a regular dude, so his day was just like yours.”

JayRich: You still work with Green Up Entertainment, I heard they worked with Usher and Pac.

Roccett: “Yeah, we got a dude named “Poohbear” on the team and he wrote a gang of songs for Usher. This other cat named “T-Mac” he play strings. He did that for Pac when he was a live.”

JayRich: How’s the experience working with somebody that worked with Pac?

Roccett: “It feels great; it make it feel like you on the right path. “T-Mac” and guys like that usually tell you about working with Pac right off the back. You know, OG’s give you the game before you start playing.”

JayRich: How would you compare yourself to Jezzy right now?

Roccett: “We got a whole totally different style. We talk about a lot of the same stuff…..But, yeah, I would consider myself a lyricist and you can expect me to say the unexpected.”

JayRich: What’s the scene like in Cali; I know Snoop and a lot of guys are trying to get some things done.

Roccett: “A lot of Cali artists are getting signed. We next to make it happen. We on our way to the top. Talent is not what get you in the music industry now. It’s who you know and how hard you willing to work. You can be garbage and just work harder than the next man.”

JayRich: What’s the unity like on the West Coast?

Roccett: “Man, we trying to get it back. We got a thang called the New West, but out here, what ya’ll be seeing in the movie Colors, Menace II Society, and Boyz In the Hood…That shit is real. It’s real live Bloods and Crips, niggas that ever get along. Niggas been trying to bring niggas together with money and shit like that. It’s dumb, but, here, it’s where you from and where you grew up. Niggas don’t have a good moms or pops so niggas love they hood. We trying to get together and make some money.”

JayRich: What’s the basis of the New West?

Roccett: “You gotta be official and show dudes you not tripping. First and foremost, you gotta be respected.”

JayRich: What about the guys in the game false claiming and making hits; how long can they last until somebody pulls their card?

Roccett: “Aw man, it could be forever. It depends on who you are and how hard niggas tripping on you. You can’t be worried about the niggas who fake and all that in the industry; you’ll be going damned near crazy. 90% of these niggas fake so you just gotta worry about you and get to the top.”

Roccett is the first Makaveli Branded artist and is signed to Young Jezzy’s CTE as well.

You can see more of Roccett at www.myspace.com/roccett

--By Joe"JayRich"Robinson