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7/13/2006 What's up? I'm all right. I'm just enjoying my time now that the album is out. All Questions Answered has been out a couple weeks. How has the past couple weeks been for you? It's been real good. I can't complain. My phone's been off the hook. It's been doing great and I'm just trying to make sure it gets good exposure. It's titled All Questions Answered. What's the most pressing question you're answering on this? Probably how people are going to perceive this album with it being on Stones Throw. You think "backpack" and "underground" when you hear Stones Throw, but you're far from the backpack genre. Exactly. I listen to everyone on there though. You know I'm originally from the CDP crew with J-Ro, Madlib, Wildchild, Dudly, Oh No, Kankick, Aloe Black, DJ Romes, DJ Int, and Baptman. Growing up in that and in Southern California, I listened to everything from radio to R&B to underground. I think with me listening to everything, you can hear that in my music. I'm not afraid to be me in my music. How does it feel to finally have your debut album out? Honestly, in one form, I appreciate it because I've been doing this a long time and to have an album out is a beautiful thing. But at the same time, the movement is continuing and I can't be happy just because I have an album out. I have to step it up times two now. Are you happy with All Questions Answered? I'm very happy with it. I appreciate even having an avenue to have my voice be heard. I can't complain. If I was to go back and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. Do I think it's my best album? No. I haven't even reached my peak yet. I'm still growing. I feel this is the best album I could do at this stage in my life. What do you want to improve upon in the future? I'm going through different stuff every day. My music is my therapy and I can talk about what I'm facing. This album is more aggressive and I have a chip on my shoulder. I'm sure my next album will still have my aggressiveness but I'll have gone through different experiences by then so it won't be the same thing. I'll probably talk about something different on the next one. How long has this album been in the making? About a year and a half. Me and Oh No recorded 220-some odd songs and started x'ing out the ones we weren't going to use. That's how we came up with All Questions Answered. What was the biggest challenge recording this? The biggest dilemma that I had making this album was getting a good release date. Stones Throw has a lot of projects coming out and I'm a new artist. In order for me to get the summer release date, they told me I had to get my buzz up and get it big enough to where I can get in the game. When east coast artists build a buzz, they typically hit the mixtapes. Is it any different out west? I just have to be on the steady grind and make sure people can associate your name with your face. I have to give 100% each show, I have to get collabos out, and I have to learn the business. Getting your songs out is important. Make sure you study your craft and know where you need to go. How was it working with Oh No on the single "Don't Stop"? Oh man, Oh No is like my brother. We've been working together forever. The world hasn't gotten to hear me when they were all making records. We were chopping it up, we smoked a blunt, and he played me the beat. Right then and there, I wrote it and went to the studio and knocked it out. Oh No did most of the production for All Questions Answered. What was the process like? We were together every day and out of everybody in the crew, he knows me the best. He knows what beats I'll sound best over and how to bring certain emotions out of me. Besides that, we're a group. He introduced me on his album last year, and sometime next year we'll be dropping our group album. Do you feel the album is more cohesive with Oh No doing the majority of production? Yeah. On my first album, I didn't want people to want to pick up the album because Dilla was on it or because I have Madlib beats. When people pick up a Roc C album, I want them to be able to get to know me. I got a gang of songs with Madlib. We're working on an album. I have a gang of songs with Dilla. I don't want people to just pay attention to the beats. How did you approach the "El Capitan (Remix)" with Chino XL? I was at the Wake-Up Show and Sway told me I had to do something with Chino. Of course I've been a fan of Chino for a long time. I wrote my verse right then and there and we just knocked it out. He's been showing me support just like Sway and Tech. The funny thing is everybody on my album is not a business thing. I actually have relationships with them and mess with them on more than a musical level. Why so many guest appearances on All Questions Answered? I wanted to show the people my versatility on my first album. I didn't want to have twelve songs be about my life and four about the haters. I didn't want people to put me in a box. Usually people like to put you in a category. I felt if I had different people who had a foot in the underground and others who had a foot in the commercial realm, I wouldn't rap the same and I would show that we all belong out there. "More Part 2" was a big song for you. What does that song mean to your career? That was a make-or-break point for me. When "Move Part One" came, reviews were ok. A lot of people were hating and said I sounded like Lloyd Banks and they were saying I would have to change my style up to sign a deal. Instead of me backing away and not saying anything about it, I had to adjust it. I have been rapping before Snoop's "187" and this isn't overnight. I've been rapping for over twenty years and I think people respect that I didn't shy away from that comment. And with Dilla cosigning for me, it was really a make-or-break point. If I didn't address anything on "Move Part 2," there might not be an All Questions Answered. Whether you agree with me or not, I'm not afraid to let you know what I go through and I think people respect you. The Lloyd Banks comparisons had to bother you. The first time people are hearing me worldwide and to hear that comment, it did bother me. A week later, I was looking at it like at least they mentioned me. They could have not said anything. I had to sit there and decide if I was going to pout about it or be me about it. I didn't worry if I wouldn't get reviews in magazines or anything like that. I just did me and whatever happened would happen. Luckily it was a positive thing. A lot of people think you're a rookie right now. Is that good or bad? I think it's good. I've been doing it for a long time, but I'm still relevant. Other cats my age already peaked and they're out of the game. Now you have some cats in their 30's and 40's still doing it. Being this was my first album, I am fresh to a lot of cats and it means I can have longevity in this game. Why did you keep such a low profile all these years? I wanted to wait for the right time. Everything was calculated. When "Move" came out, I wasn't even signed to Stones Throw yet. I was still making songs and doing what I did. I pretty much always knew I would sign to Stones Throw because it made sense because all my friends were over there, but I was more street-oriented and it could be a double-edged sword, but it's no different than Em or Busta messing with Dr. Dre. It's been all good. I can't complain. Did you have any concerns at first, looking at Stones Throw's catalog? I wasn't concerned. With the avenue they have, they're going to bring fans to my lane and I'm going to bring fans over to Stones Throw. It's like a marriage. Of course you're going to have people who won't accept it. My whole fan-base is not Stones Throw. I'm going to still keep grinding, still putting out music, and keep doing what I do. How is it being on Stones Throw? I had other label offers, but seeing how most labels go, I could say Stones Throw is legit. They don't put their hands in and tell you what to do. They let you do your thing. I turned my album in and we put the album together and turned it in, which is pretty much what they do with all their projects. They let the artist be the artist which is why I think they have the success they do. Do you want a major or will you be happy at Stones Throw the next couple years? My whole thing is I want to take it back to where there is no such thing as underground and commercial. If something better came along, I would take Stones Throw with me. I wouldn't jump ship. At the end of the day, I'm not concerned with being the most famous. I say my music is my therapy. If I wasn't doing this, I'd still be getting in trouble. How's your record coming with Oh No? We're still shopping it. That's been done. We stay making songs. I just came from Oh No's house. We're still waiting for the right situation. Right now, we're just working on my album and Oh No's album is coming out August 8. Will your album with Madlib come out soon? That's the same situation. We're shopping it. Stones Throw gave us the freedom to go shop to other labels. Whatever the best situation is, that's who we'll put it out with. We stay making music. Once we're satisfied with the music, we'll see who wants to deal with it. You've done some work with J.Dilla. What will you remember most about him? Man, Dilla was my dude. That's my brother. That was one of the first cats outside of my clique to really believe in me as a person and that had nothing to do with the music. Music was the last thing we talked about; it was just life things. I really respect that. He was a cat who won a Grammy and was with the big stars and he never acted bigger than any of us. If he messed with you, he messed with you, and if he didn't, he didn't. I'm just happy I was one of the people he messed with. A lot of producers are biting his sound, but there's only one Dilla. How much will his sound be missed? I still talk to Dilla almost every day. He's on my phone, he's all over my house, and I miss him, but I'm glad he's looking down on us. His death made everybody step their sound up. There's always going to be biters, but we're going to let them know where that sound came from and he will never be forgotten. I miss him, but at the end of the day, he's still here. What's your focus for the next couple of months? Roc C is on the grind. I have a mixtape coming with Oh No. I'm on Oh No's album coming out in August. I'm on the Cartoon Network album and me and Oh No are characters in the Scarface game. It's another day for Roc. I'm going to keep it moving and I'm trying to make my mark on this journey. The LA underground scene seems to have changed a bit over the years. Do you feel you're a part of the new wave? Yeah. I was on tour with Aceyalone and those cats and it was all love. Those cats are pioneers and we're not trying to take anything away from them. We're trying to keep this west coast thing alive. When you think of California you think of Dre or super-underground music, which is not all we have to offer. Does that perception get tiring? Yeah, man. It's the same problem on the east coast. They say those cats are hella wild, but that's not necessarily true. You can experience a little bit of everything everywhere. People just don't know enough about west coast music. I'm from Oxnard, California, which is forty-five minutes from Los Angeles. That's been hard because we had to get respect in our city first. Are you getting the respect you deserve? Really, honestly, I'm the type of person who keeps it moving and at the end of the journey, I'll sit back and enjoy everything. It's not all peaches and cream. I have people who love what I'm doing and people who hate what I'm doing. I'm not going to sit back and say "such-and-such said this or that." I appreciate everything and I take heed to it, but at the end of the day, I try to keep pushing and never settle. I have to treat every album like it's my first. That's the only way to do it. I had a chance to play professional sports and I let that pass me by because I got in trouble. This is my second chance. To have this taken away, I'm not going to let that happen. What do you want to say to everyone? I appreciate everybody who even gave me a chance whether you accepted me or thought I was the worst thing on earth. As long as you gave me a chance, I appreciate that, and I'm definitely not going to let any of my fans down. If anything, the situation is only going to get better. And I'd like everybody to go out there and cop the album and support your boy.

By Brian Kayser

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