Album Notes

Roc Wella was one of the first rappers who could spit sixteen bars consisting of gritty street level subject matter, without the use of profane language. Set aside from Chicago ’s reputation for fast pace lyricist’s, and straight gangsterism. Roc created the image of a philosopher with a multitude of rhyming styles, and capabilities. Although local, Roc Wella became popular for his off the rack freestyle, and his ability to hypnotize his audience with word play and twisted analogies. With so many street battles won, he decided to write a song that would hopefully change the stereotype on the mc’s from Chicago. The name of the song was “The Streets Of The Chi” proud, but at the same time skeptical he delivered his work to be judged by some local talent scouts and record labels. The response leads him to believe that he can become a piece of the hip- hop puzzle.
Roc Wella was born David Warren Lester on August 24, 1978 in the South-side area of Chicago. As a young boy he was highly intelligent which often made life difficult outside of his home. Trying desperately to fit in he began to run with gang members, and continuously finding trouble. His troubles twice left him with minor charges, but serious enough to change his life. With some education under his belt the military seemed to be the best discipline for him, collaborating with some old classmates, he reunited with new found friends now residing in Port Hueneme, Ca. Life was breathed into a new born group “The Horde”, The Horde started a major buzz in southern California’s (805) area, and it forced the local radio stations to take notice. The relentless hustle of Roc Wella landed the group an opening slot for Tha Alkoholics, The Dogg Pound, and the Dogg-Father himself Snoop Dogg, at the Anaheim Pond in California. The radio stations supported the groups’ drive immensely, until too much pride, and personal issues tore the members further, and further apart. With a conglomerate of bad experiences from dealing with a group Roc Wella was on the verge of giving up on his dream for good. Roc Wella and his family soon moved to Pensacola, Fl to start from scratch where he would work as an accountant for the U.S Navy, and take classes in the evening to further his education. His thoughts were to just leave all of his hopes of a music career behind him and live a normal life, but fate of course intervened. One of his co-workers happened to be a small time A&R for an independent record label out of Memphis, TN named Dogmatic Records. It was a small label where the producer was also the C&O, and he seemed pretty interested in finding a new recording artist, not really in the Hip Hop genre, but after hearing Roc Wella spit a few bars, and seeing the likeness in personalities he was quickly convinced that this would be a good idea. After the project was finished and done Roc Wella immediately began using well-known gorilla marketing tactics to his advantage, and with this hard work and dedication approximately Nineteen-thousand units were sold from the back of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Unsatisfied still with the outcome of the project and knowing that he wanted a different sound to compliment his vocals, he knew he needed to make a change. Being the motivated individual that makes him who he is, Roc Wella performed shows, and moved units from the famous Roy Jones Jr. nightclub “The H2O” in Pensacola, FL to The very popular “Denim & Diamonds” in Memphis, TN. Differences in opinions between himself and his new-found label lead him to make a decision, so he walked away. Although he and his producer/mentor parted on good terms it was best that they part. Roc Wella has returned to his hometown Chicago, and is now completing and polishing up his next installment, which already looks to be a masterpiece in the making. Roc Wella pushes forward as a solo artist, because for this young future Rap star, failure is not an option.