<\/p>\n
Roc Marciano and DJ Premier – Credit: Nate Hosseini Tech Arts*<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Depending on how tapped in of a hip-hop head you are, the following statement is either a fact of life or a revelation: Roc Marciano is one of the most impactful MCs of his generation. Since 2010\u2019s MarcBerg<\/em>, he\u2019s been a catalyst of a new indie rap scene, dropping albums as braggadocious and flashy as those in the major label orbit, while selling many of them direct-to-consumer from his website.<\/p>\n A horde of the artists highlighted in Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2019s column No Filler<\/em><\/a> are indebted to him, as are the hip-hop fans benefiting from the glut of spitters dropping seemingly every week. Those listeners grew up in the golden era of hip-hop, where producers like DJ Premier laced classics for Gangstarr, Nas, Jay-Z, and the rest of hip-hop\u2019s who\u2019s who. One would be hard-pressed to find a legendary lyricist that Premier hasn\u2019t made a beat for, which is why it\u2019s only right that these titans eventually connected on The Coldest Profession<\/em>.<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n As the album intro explains, the project derived from a chance encounter in the Armani Section of a New York City Macy\u2019s, when Roc asked DJ Premier when they would link up. Premier hit him shortly before last Christmas, and they got to work, recording \u201cArmani Section\u201d to commemorate the occasion. The song was their first single, and an apt introduction to what\u2019s happening on their collaboration: Premier giving Roc a funk-inspired runway to dish his pimp tales.<\/p>\n Like Raekwon<\/a>, Roc Marciano\u2019s diction, fashion sense, and sonic wheelhouse feel indebted to 1970s New York, where Blaxploitation films offered a new lexicon and style (Roc namechecks urban fiction writer Donald Goines on \u201cTravel Fox\u201d). It\u2019s not over-the-top with Roc, but he\u2019s too slick of a lyricist not to see those connections. The best parts of The Coldest Profession<\/em> feel like what might play at a Seventies speakeasy, with Roc onstage rhyming, \u201cI\u2019m living large so that shit come with the job\/Still reelin\u2019 in cod, bendin\u2019 the fishing rod\/Hittin\u2019 different bitches I want from here to Wichita,\u201d amid clouds of cigarette smoke.<\/p>\n Those bars are from \u201cRocMarkable,\u201d which feels like the most recognizable glimpse of the classic Premier beat, as Roc\u2019s disparately textured chops are perfectly arranged over a headnodding bassline. Premier didn\u2019t have to leave his trademark techniques behind to appropriately score Roc\u2019s pimp chronicles; his signature scratches and vocal clips are all over the project. On \u201cGood to Go,\u201d searing strings play over spooky keys and a methodical bassline; it feels akin to a screaming teapot, a sign that shit is boilin\u2019 hot in the spot when Roc rhymes, \u201ctheme music in a haunted crack house\/G Pack stashed up in the couch, about a half a ounce.\u201d The star of \u201cGloryHole\u201d is Premier\u2019s use of scintillating hi-hats around a bass riff compelling Roc to get melodic with his delivery, while album closer \u201cExecution Style\u201d is the kind of warm, soulful soundscape that the project could have used one or two more of.<\/p>\n None of the sonics immediately arrest like one of Premier\u2019s seminal beats, but that\u2019s a high bar for anyone to reach, especially 30-plus years into the game. Premier succeeds at giving Roc a funk-driven backdrop for his technical prowess to shine. Roc is at his best skillfully weaving internal and external rhymes together, crafting scenes of his charmed life as an indomitable hustler who can\u2019t be shown up, intimidated, or outrhymed. It all weaves together during the second verse of \u201cExecution Style\u201d where he rhymes, \u201cSilk robe, silver and gold, one long stemmed rose\/Sports Illustrated center fold holds pose in expensive overcoat\/Show these bitches my boat cuz I\u2019m a showboat\/They can\u2019t touch the gold I\u2019m Mayweather doin\u2019 the shoulder roll.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of the project follows those depictions of The Coldest Profession<\/em>, with Roc\u2019s assonance avalanches and one-liners (\u201cHomeboy talkin\u2019 oil slick, eventually sleep with the coyfish, oysters, and shrimp\u201d on \u201cTravel Fox\u201d) entertaining throughout. Overall, it\u2019s a strong combination of two rap vets finding common ground and creating a work of neo-Blaxpoitation that\u2019s worth\u00a0a revisit.<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Roc Marciano and DJ Premier – Credit: Nate Hosseini Tech Arts* Depending on how tapped in of a hip-hop head you are, the following statement is either a fact of life or a revelation: Roc Marciano is one of the most impactful MCs of his generation. Since 2010\u2019s MarcBerg, he\u2019s been a catalyst of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1950208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[324110,341038,314737],"class_list":["post-1950207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-dj-premier","tag-roc-marciano","tag-rolling-stone"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roc-Marciano-and-DJ-Premiers-\u2018The-Coldest-Profession-Could-Score.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1950208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1950207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1950207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}