Roc Marciano's 25 Favorite Albums

The music that made him into a monster on the mic, and behind the boards.

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Image via Complex Original
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Long Island MC/producer Roc Marciano’s sophomore album Reloaded drops tomorrow, and it’s one of the strongest LPs to come out of New York this year, displaying ridiculous rhyming and progressive production that aim to make him a man who's no longer slept on in the booth or behind the boards.

Roc has been flying below the radar for years. His first solo LP, 2010's Marcberg, is acclaimed, but widely unknown to the rap masses. It was an underground hit displaying the precision he's been known for since coming into the game under Busta Rhymes' tutelage over a decade ago. Now with the release of Reloaded, Roc is spitting the best rhymes of his career, with production looks from The Alchemist and Q-Tip to boot.

To get a feel for what type of music influenced Roc Marciano, we asked him to break down his 25 favorite albums. It’s a rap-heavy list, with a strong Long Island foundation, supreme Queens representation, a West Coast and Southern component, and a soul element, all which will clue you in to what sounds made him the artist he is today. These are Roc’s emeralds of choice.

As told to Daniel Isenberg (@stanipcus)

Off The Wall

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Michael Jackson, Off The Wall (1979)

Label: Epic

Roc Marciano: “I love this album. It reminds me of all my childhood memories. I’m trapped in the 80’s when I hear that. When I was shopping for records when I was recording Marcberg, I saw Off The Wall in the store, a clean copy on vinyl. And I knew I wasn’t gonna use it for my album, but you can’t resist buying it. Even today, if I see it in a record store and it’s a clean copy, I just buy it. Like, ‘I can’t believe this is available, still.’ To me, that’s just Mike at his best. The whole album is fire.”

Criminal Minded

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Boogie Down Productions, Criminal Minded (1987)

Label: B-Boy

Roc Marciano: “KRS-One was definitely, obviously way better than a lot of other dudes. There was no question when he came out that he was the one. On the cover with the Uzis. ‘Listen to my nine millimeter go bang.’ All that. He’s that dude. No one’s fuckin’ with that shit.”

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

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Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)

Label: Def Jam/Columbia

Roc Marciano: “That’s another thing where it’s like, ‘That’s me. That’s where I’m from.’ You can’t even describe what Public Enemy was doing with their beats, to Chuck’s rhyming. Flav coming in. I’m from the part of Long Island where dudes like Flava Flav are perfectly normal. [Laughs.] Public Enemy took the game over. S1Ws, Professor Griff. That military shit.

“There’s a 98 Posse flick that they took in front of an old school Hempstead building, in this old parking lot off Main Street. They’re sitting on the cover, with the leather bubble gooses, with the guns in their hand. That just embodies my neighborhood and where we’re from. I remember that time vividly.

“‘Night of the Living Baseheads’ and all that was crazy in the hood at the time. I’m from Terrace, and anyone who does their history knows there are clips of Terrace in that video. That album really spoke for the people at that time. ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.’ In the video, he’s in jail, talking about how he got a letter from the government and they want him to fight in the war. That album, that’s masterpiece shit. Public Enemy coming in the game was like a hostile takeover.”

Follow The Leader

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Eric B. & Rakim, Follow the Leader (1988)

Label: Uni/MCA

Roc Marciano:Follow The Leader was my first hip-hop album that I ever got. I loved Paid In Full, but I never had the album. Follow The Leader was given to me as a Christmas present. My mom knew I loved Rakim so she got me the album. Follow The Leader was the coldest piece of work. That put the battery in my back. It was like I saw him, then I was like, ‘This is how I see myself doing it.’

“Rakim is the best. What more can I say about The God? That’s why I even rap. From how they dress, to how they put on for Long Island. Are you serious? The Dapper Dan shit, jumpin’ out the Saab with the long coat. Smooth cold killer shit.

Follow The Leader, you hear the lyrics on that? ‘Microphone Fiend,’ ‘Lyrics of Fury.’ The R, man.

Strictly Business

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EPMD, Strictly Business (1988)

Label:Fresh/Sleeping Bag

Roc Marciano: “That’s me. That’s what I’m from. That’s like all I know. And Strictly Business, that’s what it’s about. That’s that timepiece right there. That’s like a Rolex. No one’s touching that. Nobody’s touching EPMD. That’s that house party shit, too. ‘It’s My Thing,’ all that. EPMD. Crazy. That’s rap for my hood.”

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

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Slick Rick, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)

Label: Def Jam/Columbia/CBS

Roc Marciano: “Storytelling at its finest. Nothing but hits. Records to this day that dudes still have not topped. Who’s made a record better than ‘Hey Young World’ since? Is there anything that’s been released between then and now that can really touch that? Storytelling like ‘Mona Lisa’? Has anyone done that? They’ve tried, but dammit, they failed.

“Slick Rick is top five for me, forever. Who’s fuckin’ with Slick Rick? There’s nobody that can out rap Slick Rick. Slick Rick’s the ruler, and this body of work proves it.”

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

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Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)

Label: Priority

Roc Marciano: “To me, that’s like the gangster version of The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. The storytelling is next level, but it’s all gangster stories. It’s ridiculous. [Even on his next album, Death Certificate, that song] ‘Summer Vacation.’ What? ‘My homie got shot he’s a goner black/St. Louis niggas want their corner back/Shootin’ in snowy weather/It’s illegal business, niggas still can’t stick together.’ Damn, Cube. I don’t pride myself on that, but we used to take little out of town trips to try and get our little money, so I can relate to these stories.

“And how big was it for Cube to leave N.W.A and come to my hood to record with Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad? That kind of just let me know that where we were at, was where it’s at. For Cube to come to New York, and not only New York, but to come to Long Island and work with The Bomb Squad. That was big. I’m proud of that.”

De La Soul Is Dead

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De La Soul, De La Soul Is Dead (1991)

Label: Tommy Boy/Warner Bros.

Roc Marciano: “That’s like a hip-hop science project album. It gives you everything you could want in an album, and more. It’s ridiculous. I love that album. To me, that’s De La Soul at their finest. Prince Paul on the boards, experimental as you could ask for from a hip-hop album.

“These dudes are from the Island, so there’s pride. They’re from Amityville, that’s Suffolk County, and I’m from Nassau County. It doesn’t matter though, it’s still the Island. Dudes were just proud of De La Soul, just to see how they did it major. When they came out, their was no denying that they were one of the biggest things going in music, period.

“But coming from the Island, that was nothing new. All of the artists that came from there were breakthrough artists. De La Soul, Public Enemy, EPMD, Rakim. The Island had a lot of success as far as the hip-hop game. It wasn’t shocking that they were doing it, but it was that they were making groundbreaking music.

“I always loved ‘Hey Love,’ and if you know that record, they didn’t rhyme over it. They just had singing on the hook, and they did commentary, with a dude talking to a chick, and she’s trying to get into a relationship with him on some Teena Marie ‘Square Biz’ shit. And he’s just trying to let her know that he’s trying to fuck. So they never rapped on it.

“So being that they never rapped on it, I treated it like it was a record I caught in the crates, like a loop. Like, ‘Wow, they never rapped on this?’ I treated it like it was something I found from B.B. King or something, like, ‘Let me loop this up and rap over it.’ Plus, I got a connection to the album anyway, so [it made perfect sense]. It was fun. People don’t hear me on fun music much like that. But I got a lot of sides. They’re gonna hear me on more fun stuff.”

Nz4Life

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N.W.A, Niggaz4Life (1991)

Label: Ruthless/Priority

Roc Marciano: “That’s my favorite Dr. Dre production. I use that album as motivation. It’s not only just hip-hop at its finest, it’s cinematic. It really draws you in, and it feels like you’re watching it, not just hearing it. You feel like you’re watching it and hearing it. Dre was at his rawest at that time, in terms of sampling, and different breaks coming in, and beats changing out the blue.

“It was just amazing because, at that time, Ice Cube was one of the best. Cube’s one of the best that ever did it. But still, how in the hell do you do an album, you lose Cube, and you don’t even notice it when you listen to that album? It’s like, Cube is gone, and you really don’t even give a fuck. The album is that good.

“You would think, if you were an N.W.A fan, and you lost Cube, you would be like, ‘Man, that’s a big hole in the boat. How are we gonna produce an album and make it good without Cube?’ But it’s their best album to me. That’s that shit. I go back to that when I need motivation. It don’t get no better than that as far as gangster music.”

Breaking Atoms

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Main Source, Breaking Atoms (1991)

Label: Wild Pitch/EMI

Roc Marciano: “Man. Nothing but fire. You know, ‘Just Hangin’ Out,’ ‘Just a Friendly Game of Baseball,’ all those tracks are relevant to this day. We rode out hard to that album, straight up.

“Large Professor, that’s my big brother right there. I met him about ‘99, 2000, when Busta was recording Anarchy. There was a shift going on in the game, and dudes like Large Professor and Pete Rock were coming out of the 90’s and weren’t highly favored. You know, in the 90’s if you had a Large Professor beat, it was like, ‘What? You got a Large Professor beat? That’s crazy.’ So when Busta was recording Anarchy, me coming fresh out of the 90’s, I was like, ‘Where these dudes at? Where’s Large?’ And Busta was like, ‘Word, let’s call Large up.’ And he came through the studio, and we’ve been kicking it ever since.’”

The Chronic

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Dr. Dre, The Chronic (1992)

Label:Death Row/Interscope/Priority

Roc Marciano: “Wow. [Laughs.] Do I have to even talk about what The Chronic was? Put it this way, The Chronic was like De La Soul Is Dead, but the gangster version. The skits, the songs. It’s fun, but it’s gangster.”

Midnight Marauders

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A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993)

Label:Jive/BMG

Roc Marciano: “That’s my favorite Tribe album. From the start to finish, it’s genius. The beats and everything are just next level for the time it came out. Top of the line. The track ‘Midnight’ is crazy. That track always used to fuck me up. ‘Lyrics To Go,’ the joint with Extra P. There’s just too much. I had to jack the drums on a few tracks off this back in the days.

“I’ve known Tip for a while through Busta, so I guess just him being a friend, it was a natural progression [for us to work together on my Reloaded album cut “Thread Count”]. I’ve been in sessions where he’s working on my music for himself, and vice versa. He’s been in my sessions. So we just ended up linking when the time was right.”

The Infamous

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Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)

Label: Loud/RCA/BMG

Roc Marciano: “That just embodied what were going through at that time. They were my peers. They’re in my age bracket. They summed it up perfectly. The Infamous was straight classic material. Mobb Deep. What more can I say? I love that shit.”

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

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Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)

Label: Loud/RCA/BMG

Roc Marciano: “That’s New York culture at its finest. That’s drug dealer rap from the big homies. That’s not coming from the snot-nosed dudes. That’s that shit from dudes that were old enough to get into those clubs, and things of that nature that I couldn’t get in to. Cuban Linx, that sounded like our big brothers rapping. That’s that fire right there. That lit that torch to keep that shit pushing. Like, ‘Let’s keep this east coast gangster shit pushing.’”

The Coming

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Busta Rhymes, The Coming (1996)

Label: Elektra

Roc Marciano: “Goosebumps all over that album. Straight up and down. That’s the hungriest Busta you will ever get. And I love Anarchy just as much. But I’m gonna keep it funky. The Coming explained exactly what it was going to be. It was the coming of a monster, and he’s still here to this day because of this shit. ‘Do My Thing,’ ‘Everything Remains Raw,’ ‘Keep It Movin’’ with the crew. All that shit. Nothing but goosebumps listening to that album.

“I remember when he was recording that, he would come through the hood, and I was fucking with him back then, so we would take rides in his truck and he would play me joints. And I’d be like, ‘Oh man, this is gonna be a fuckin’ masterpiece.’”

Reasonable Doubt

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Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt (1996)

Label: Roc-A-Fella/Priority

Roc Marciano: “I was out there in the streets around that time, and Jay was just preaching on how to get rich. You know how they talk about how conscious rappers might get a little too preachy? He was too preachy on how to get money. [Laughs.] He was actually scolding us, like, ‘If y’all ain’t gettin’ no money, you’re a fuckin’ bum.’ So we were out there hustling, and he was definitely pushing the agenda of getting money. It was motivational music to dudes who were actually out there trying to hustle up some money.

“And that’s not to take away from the artistry, because the fuckin’ rapping is excellent, and the beats are also. It’s a beautiful piece of work. ‘D’Evils’ used to fuck me up. All that shit. ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle.’ Hov put together a master work with that.”

It Was Written

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Nas, It Was Written (1996)

Label: Columbia

Roc Marciano: “Everybody says Illmatic all the time, and I love Illmatic too. But It Was Written, I love it a little more, because he had improved so much. The songwriting is next level. Nas is the Golden Child.

“I remember at the time, when it first came out, dudes didn’t appreciate it as much, because it wasn’t Illmatic, as far as the beats, you know, Trackmasters. But once it settled in, it was just jaw-dropping rhymes. And with the beats, over time your taste changes and you’re like, ‘You know what? This is not Illmatic, it’s just a little more sophisticated.’

“To me, that’s Nas’ best album. ‘Shootouts.’ What’s better than that?"

The Don Killuminati

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Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)

Label: Death Row/Interscope

Roc Marciano: “That’s 2Pac at his best. And that’s a hard one too, because I love All Eyez On Me, too. But Makaveli. What’s iller than that? The joint where’s he’s talking about Haitian Jack, it’s just like, man. He’s definitely, without a doubt, one of the biggest stars, ever. Not even just a hip-hop star, he was just a star, all across the board. If you were a young black man, how could you not look up to Pac?”

LIfe After Death

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The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death (1997)

Label:Bad Boy

Roc Marciano: “That’s B.I.G. at his best. He’s more calm, and more confident than on Ready To Die. I love Ready To Die too, but he did what Nas had done with Illmatic. What Nas had done with Illmatic, he did that for the 2000s. Like after that, this is gonna be the future. There’s gonna be dudes rapping at the highest level possible, and rapping over all kinds of production though.

“He was like, ‘I’m gonna kill a joint with Bone Thugs. I’m gonna kill some shit with R. Kelly.’ It’s just sophisticated, next level. The shit RZA did, Havoc came through. And then you had those other sexy tracks with it. It gave you everything you need in an album. I feel like that’s something I have to conquer next. I need to make a Life After Death, or more well-rounded than that, if it’s possible. ‘Sky’s The Limit,’ everything that was on that shit. B.I.G. was golden.”

The War Report

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Capone-N-Noreaga, The War Report (1997)

Label: Def Jam/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros.

Roc Marciano: “That’s that shit right there. Nore and ‘Pone at their best, the track selection is ridiculous. That album hasn’t aged. There are albums that came out two years ago that have aged. The War Report is timeless.

“It’s a very special album to me. That album has a lot of heart. A lot of pain and life experience went into that album. It just embodies being young and wild during those times. Like, really being out in those streets. That album is crazy. One of the best.”

Moment of Truth

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Gang Starr, Moment of Truth (1998)

Label: Noo Trybe/Virgin/EMI

Roc Marciano: “That’s my favorite Gang Starr album, and that’s saying alot, because they’ve got classics. Gang Starr has like three, arguably four, classics actually. I don’t think they put out a project that’s not a classic, in my opinion. But just to pick my favorite one, it’s Moment of Truth. And why? It’s perfect. That’s why. [Laughs.] It’s produced and written perfectly. It sounds like Preemo at his best, and Guru at his best. The formula was just right.

“‘In Memory Of...’ is one of my favorite songs ever, in any genre of music. That track spiritually moved me. That’s a cold piece of work right there, from that to the title track to ‘Make ‘Em Pay,’ to ‘JFK to LAX.’ Moment of Truth is perfect. All that shit is fire.”

Voodoo

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D’Angelo, Voodoo (2000)

Label: Cheeba Sound/Virgin

Roc Marciano:Voodoo is everything you want in a soul album. Period. The lyrics are soulful, the tracks are ridiculous. You can rhyme on those tracks! Straight up and down. Hearing that album, it’s hard to believe it was made in ‘99, 2000. I remember I had the tape twice. I used to ride out to that album very hard. Pause. [Laughs.]

“The Voodoo album is just incredible. It’s too soulful. It’s almost like the perfect soul album. You can’t believe that album wasn’t done in the 70’s. That’s what I’m basically saying. Just the sound of it alone. You can’t believe it.

“[I’m not surprised that Action Bronson said in an interview that Voodoo is his favorite album.] We never spoke about that, but Action’s a soulful dude. Some people with music just get it. And he gets it. So I’m not surprised.”

Supreme Clientele

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Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele (2000)

Label: Epic/Sony/Razor Sharp

Roc Marciano: “To me, that’s Ghostface at his best. That’s my favorite Ghost album, straight up. Probably one of my favorite Wu-Tang releases. Definitely up there. He was rapping at his best, the beat selection. It fit the name, it was all Supreme Clientele. I love that album, man. Straight up.

“‘Stroke Of Death,’ the joint where they’re just spinning the record back [is one of my favorites]. It reminds me of like basement parties around the way, or a party at someone’s apartment, where dude is just bringing the record back. That shit is crazy. And the other joint, it’s like the ‘puppy love’ song, ‘Child’s Play.’ Real soulful. What else? ‘The streets is rough out here, the crack game came and had it’s years.’ Yeah, ‘Stay True.’ There’s no misses on that album. It don’t get no better than that from a solo artist’s album.”

The Last of a Dying Breed

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Scarface, The Last of a Dying Breed (2000)

Label: Rap-A-Lot

Roc Marciano: “I rode hard to that album. ‘Conspiracy Theory.’ You could tell he was going through a lot at that time. J. Prince got knocked, and they were trying to railroad that man.

“I remember I was going on the road with Busta, and I needed some music to ride out to. And I was like, ‘Yo, let me just buy a bunch of albums.’ That was one of them. And that album didn’t leave my car. It just didn’t leave. It just stayed in the deck. I just ran that album over and over and over again. Scarface is a cold dude. Real cold dude.

“I remember back in the days I was trying to put mad dudes up on it. You know, east coast always had love for southern artists, contrary to some beliefs. Ralph McDaniels always supported The Geto Boys, Goodie Mob. You know, we saw those videos. Growing up, that stuff was in rotation. And The Last Of A Dying Breed, that’s just real profound. Word up.”

Warriorz

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M.O.P., Warriorz (2000)

Label: Loud/Relativity

Roc Marciano: “That shit is so fucking hard. That shit is so G. Preemo and Fame on the boards. That’s my album right there. If I’m on a road trip, Warriorz gotta come with me. My favorite track on there is the title track. Plus you got 'G-Building,' 'Face Off,' 'Power.' The whole album is fire. You could keep going. That’s their coldest one. Word. That’s my favorite M.O.P. album, and one of my favorite albums, period."

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