The unique rhythms and melodies behind the music of Dayton, Ohio’s native, Seth Rock, are unmet by the majority of “underground” rappers in the oversaturated music scene of today. His 2009 debut album, White Men Can’t Rap is just the first of many various projects his name has been attached to over the years. Currently in production with none other than the elusive VTZ, Auto-Biological Warfare will be the second full length album coming to fruition almost five years in the making. The album’s ten track precursor, The Prologue, is currently available for free download at sethrock.com and features collaborations with some current up and coming artists, Cryptic Wisdom & Grewsum.
While Auto-Biological Warfare is currently in the last stages of finalization, Seth Rock has recently teamed up with fellow Dayton hip-hop heads, Trunk Bound Regime, to create a pure and insightful sound that is something straight out of a 1992 boom box. Available on cassette tape and digital download (at tbrlodge.com), Strikes & Gutters is not your typical 2013 hip hop album, but more of an anthology of all the decades of hip hop combined, with no other purpose than to make great music with friends. Seth Rock and the boys of Trunk Bound Regime aren’t just busy making music; they’re also heavily involved in giving back to their community in the true nature of hip-hop, by hosting the now bi-annual, Gem City Get Down in downtown Dayton.
The “Get Down” is a night full of live DJ’s from the TBR Lodge (Trunk Bound Regime) spinning classic funk and hip-hop jams, with a strict, “no emcees allowed” rule. For only a $1 admission with a canned good, you not only get a night of pure and unadulterated music with no egos attached, your canned donation helps restock the local food banks in Ohio, and all monetary proceeds fund the global economy in the form of micro-loans through kiva.org. The money lent through Kiva gets repaid and re-lent over and over, giving a never ending helping hand to small business owners around the world. How can you argue with hip hop, charity, and global economic stimulation?
As a veteran in the Ohio clubs (Al Rosa Villa in Columbus, The Underground in Sandusky, etc.), Seth has also opened up shows for some noteworthy artists such as Tech N9ne, Potluck, Anybody Killa, Dirtball, Big B, HED PE, and Liquid Assassin just to name a few. If you’ve followed Seth Rock from the time he started gaining online notoriety in the first ever, Funk Volume “Don’t Funk up our Beats Contest” as a finalist, or just jumped on board with the release of The Prologue, rest assured that while his career seems long, he is just getting started!
Q & A:
Q: What would you say separates you from every other rapper in the music scene today?
A: My music is all about “being you” – I took a page from E-40’s book, an icon and one of my all time favorite rappers to date. Nowadays in music, the objective is to glorify the artist as this gimmicky, fictitious thing, and what I strive to do is make music that glorifies the individual, as an organic being. Whereas a lot of artists are hungry for the spotlight and trying to have their hands in every facet of the entertainment business, I am more or less just trying to make art.
Q: If you could give sneak peaks at Auto-Biological Warfare, in your own words, how you would you describe this next chapter in your career?
A: *Deep movie guy voice*
“In a time when two worlds collide, only one man can save us…” Ha ha, no but really, the message I’m trying to get across with the album is, I’m here to make music with a purpose. Other albums you hear could be considered a party anthem or a ballad, but Auto-Biological Warfare is really supposed to play out like an epic soundtrack of my life. I pulled inspirations from classical music & films, American literature, and my own personal memoirs to create a universe in which I have a platform to tell my story.
Q: Are there any special appearances on the new album worth mentioning?
A: With collaborations being such a decent portion of my previous work, as well as a staple in newer albums today, I wanted to make a record that was more me, and keep everything in-house and homegrown. At this time, my producer VTZ, and fellow Dayton rapper Cardiac, are being featured on the album, but my overall collab history is pretty extensive. I’ve done work with everybody from Hopsin (who produced my “Nightmare” video) & SwizZz, to DZK & Chino XL. Throw in some more popular and current underground names like Dubbs, Grewsum, and Cryptic Wisdom, and you get this well balanced collection of songs that can speak to all types of people across the board. I can’t give you any more info. than that, you’ll just have to wait until it’s released!
Q: Do you have any last words or a final message for your fans, new and old, who might be reading this right now?
A: Fans need to hold the artists they support accountable for their actions; not just in the form of the music they produce, but also in the literal sense of the choices they make. Far too often, I hear the phrase, “I don’t care about his personal life, I just like his music,” and to me that’s contradictory because a person’s music and their life should, for the most part, be synonymous with each other. We’re all entertainers, but within that context, we hold a responsibility to be honest with our fan base. Don’t get me wrong, I have made my share of mistakes, but the problem is people don’t know how to admit their wrongs and take ownership; to me, this sends mixed messages regarding that artist’s stance on the subject at hand. In a world of over-preachy rappers where everyone has a soapbox, we all need to take a step back and just practice what we preach.
Special thanks to Lexie for doing most of the work on this Underground Spotlight.
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