ROC

Rocky William Harry VanDergriff, better known by his stage name ROC (an acronym for Rely On Christ), is an American rapper, songwriter, and singer based in Tuolumne County, California. Born in Modesto, California, and moving to Tuolumne County at the age of 2, Rocky VanDergriff became interested in music at a young age. He was mostly exposed to contemporary Christian music due to his family's devout Christian beliefs, but he preferred the R&B and rock his parents often listed to. However, at age 7, he fell in love with hip hop after listening to the album Portable Sounds by tobyMac. After his parents had divorced in 2006, he began dealing with heavy emotional pain. On top of that, he was often bullied during elementary school due to being non-athletic and slightly overweight. This led to him being borderline suicidal in 6th and 7th grade, although he never actually attempted suicide. He began using rapping as a way of coping with the verbal abuse of his peers. In late 2010, having become a fan of secular hip hop, Rocky adopted the alias Upbeat, and formed a rap duo called The Officials with his friend Zak Barry, who went by the stage name Direction. The group recorded two EPs: 2011's Freestyle, and 2012's Mistakes. Being unable to afford either studio time or professional equipment, both EPs were made unprofessionally, using an iPhone recorder, an auxiliary speaker, and YouTube beats from a laptop. In 2013, The Officials changed their name to West Coast Boyz, Zak adopted the stage name TG-Wrl, and they started making less poppy, more hardcore music in the lane of 1990's gangsta rap. They also started an unofficial record label called West Side Music to release their music under. In June of that year, they temporarily recruited Rocky's cousin Jeremiah Mercado, who performed under the name Lil J. Although he left the group after only several months. Even though both Rocky and Zak were Christians, the lyrics of their songs were often vulgar and violent. Rocky eventually began to feel convicted for this. So, he left the group in 2014. After leaving West Coast Boyz, Rocky began writing faith-based lyrics. He decided to start fresh with a new stage name as well, adopting the moniker ROC. In September of 2014, he was able to get in a professional recording studio for the first time, where he recorded his debut single "Rely on Christ", whose title was an ode to his stage name. After starting high school, he became a respected battle rapper on campus and gained a small following. In January of 2015, he got back in the studio, and for the next month, began working on new material. On February 22, 2015, he released the Rely on Christ EP online for free. The EP became a local success, allowing Rocky to become the #1 artist on ReverbNation's Jamestown hip hop charts. Soon after he began working on even more new material, and before long he had finished recording his debut album The Day After the End of Time, which he plans to release in 2016. The album will include features from fellow California rappers Koda (Zak's new stage name), NajeeBoy, KD, Christian ane, and John Houston.

"I love paying live whenever I possibly can."

ROC has a diverse taste in music that includes hip hop, R&B, reggae, metal, punk, blues, soul, jazz, alternative, Latin, funk, disco, folk, EDM, spoken word, and 1950's rock & roll. As an emcee, he is influenced by Tupac, Nas, KRS-One, Rakim, Eminem, The Notorious B.I.G., Common, Tech N9ne, Black Thought, AZ, T-Bone, André 3000, Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, Chuck D, GZA, Q-Tip, Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Sevin, R.A. the Rugged Man, MF Doom, Aesop Rock, Eyedea, Immortal Technique, Kendrick Lamar, Hopsin, Vinnie Paz, KB, Tedashii, Trip Lee, J. Cole, Deepspace5, Mike Shinoda, Method Man, Raekwon, Scarface, Big L, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, Big Pun, Ice Cube, Pharaohe Monch, DMX, RZA, Ice-T, Ghostface Killah, Prodigy, Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, Slick Rick, Swoope, tobyMac, Dre Murray, Alex Faith, Derek Minor, Christon Gray, Sho Baraka, Canon, KJ-52, Manafest, Group 1 Crew, Tunnel Rats, The Cross Movement, GRITS, Da' T.R.U.T.H., LA Symphony, Beautiful Eulogy, Propaganda, and MC Jin. He also takes inspiration from artists of other genres like Michael Jackson, Linkin Park, Queen, Papa Roach, Red, Thousand Foot Krutch, P.O.D., Bob Marley, Papa San, Green Day, Flyleaf, System of a Down, Skillet, dc Talk, Family Force 5, Switchfoot, Evanescence, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Usher, Ne-Yo, Fall Out Boy, Relient K, Hawk Nelson, Bruno Mars, and Sam Smith.

"Whatever they got up in the studio."