Album Notes

TOCKA, born a 70's baby in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio into a poor family with one sibling before him and two to follow him. He grew up normal compared to any other person in the urban or ghetto community. The communities where very young single moms raised their children on government assistance, while very few fathers were able to provide because they were either locked up in jail or dead. TOCKA wanted more than this "so-called" normal life that was pre-planned for him. He took his artistic talents and signed up in the Cincinnati School Of Creative and Performing Arts. Schooling didn't work as planned for him as he was kicked out in his senior year. TOCKA turned to the only thing he knew better than school...the streets. But soon after chasing the fast money that lured him into the streets, these same streets reserved him a cell inside of a prison he called "Gladiator School". While in Gladiator School as he called it, TOCKA mastered his talent. He began to write and battle other fellow inmates. It was then, when he was at his lowest point that he made a promise to himself, that promise was that when he would be released he was going to pursue a career as a rapper and not to be lured back into the streets. When he was released the young but determined TOCKA stayed true to the promise he made, as he went straight to the studio, and stayed away from the traps in the streets. "When I got off that bus, my boy was waiting for me, I told him to take me straight to a studio", "I recorded like 10 songs in about 7 hours". Those songs along with a few others were placed on various mixtapes in Cincinnati and the surrounding cities. These mixtapes made TOCKA "hood famous" as the word got back that TOCKA's songs were a lot of peoples favorites on the various mixtapes. This immediately shifted Tocka into overdrive. TOCKA then put together a demo that he would submit to major labels, in hopes to take his game to the next level. Little did TOCKA know that his friends had started an independent record label, and was looking for the perfect artist to set things off. This label was GARNETT ENTERTAINMENT, they too did not know that the guy they passed almost everyday shaking hands, saying "what's up" to, was so serious about making it in the rap game. The two, TOCKA and GARNETT ENTERTAINMENT eventually hooked up and put together Tocka's debut album entitled "As Is", they garnished an independent distribution-only deal through Bungalo-Universal, then released the album to the street in Mid 2005, The album did very well on an independent level, Tocka is now recording for his sophomore project and ready to do it BIG TIME now.