Rhyming alongside Rick Ross can be a daunting task for a rookie rapper, but rocking with Maybach Music has given Rockie Fresh an extra boost of confidence.
Rozay's newest protégé admits he thought about pulling a switch-a-roo by redoing his pre-existing verses after Ross dropped some bars on his "You a Lie" remix, but his bravado eventually kicked in.
"I honestly thought about laying new verses to it," Rockie told' Sway Calloway during an interview in Washington, D.C., on July 17, just days after he announced his signing to MMG.
The first version of "You a Lie" appeared on Rockie's Driving 88 mixtape, which he dropped in January, months before he hooked up with the Bawse. The newly released remix version, which features Ross, has Rockie's original verses. At first, Fresh wanted to put new rhymes on the record but then decided against it.
"I was expecting [Ross] to take one of my [original] verses off and rap the second verse, and that was gonna be the end of my record," Rockie explained, "but he let both of my verses rock, and I kinda took that as a sign that he respected what I did with the record."
For Rockie, hearing Rozay's lyrics on his record was validation. For the first time, he was able to let the magnitude of his new MMG deal sink in. "I heard the [Ross] verse for the first time, that's like one of the rare moments that I had in the last week where I can really just reflect and just thank God on how far the situation done came," he said. "Just to have somebody like Rozay lace me with a strong verse like that. It made it surreal."
While Fresh marvels at Rozay's larger-than-life demeanor, Ross admires the rookie's ability to relate to the common man. "Other than, of course, his ability to make music and write choruses and putting visuals together, it's like, when I was just sitting there talking with him and connecting with him, I saw that he's a reflection of every man," Ross said. "Everybody can see a little bit of themselves in a Rockie Fresh, and that's how he presents his music."
What's your favorite Rockie Fresh song? Let us know in the comments!