Roc Marciano

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Roc Marciano burst onto the scene with his debut album, Marcberg, in 2010 and has blazed several trails since the release of what many consider to be a modern classic. Roc Marciano fans can now rejoice as Marcberg is available for the first time on streaming services in honor of the project’s 15th anniversary.
Hailing from Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y., Roc Marciano made his first splash as a member of Busta Rhymes’ sprawling Flipmode Squad before breaking away from the collective to form The U.N. He embarked on a solo career, delivering Marcberg on May 4, 2010. The sound of the album was a shift in sound as dusty, sample-heavy Hip-Hop was pushed to the side as something only so-called “backpackers” were into.

What Marciano did, however, was take New York City slick talk and place it atop soulful production that highlighted the relentless and highly visual lyrical ability of the producer and rapper. Handling all the production on Marcberg, Marciano, alongside other innovators like Hus Kingpin and Westside Gunn, helped usher in the current wave of sparsely produced tracks that emphasized the lyrics instead of the drums.
The album only has one feature, with the late, great Sean Price appearing on the remix for “Snow,” who sounded at home over Marciano’s powerful production. Roc Marciano is still delivering music at a high clip, dropping the stellar Marciology and The Skeleton Key, the latter of which features The Alchemist handling all production.
On X, fans are celebrating 15 years of Marcberg. Check out the reactions below.
Find Marcberg at your preferred DSP here.
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Photo: Sean Zanni / Getty

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