Top 10 Famous Faces in 2012 [Hip-Hop] [#9]

#9 Rockie Fresh

I want to start this post by back tracking a minute to the intro we did to this whole list. The only solid requirement was that the artist could not have a studio album out with a major label. Then I went on to say "The rules aren't too complicated and it's subjective as far as who has "blown up" yet and cannot be included now, but hopefully hip-hop's true fans can recognize when an indie artist has blown up beyond the scope of this list." Trust me I made it subjective on purpose because I love the controversy and no one wants to read and article they can't have a great opinion on. Although when people say J. Cole, Mac Miller, Tyler the Creator, in my mind, and I think a good portion of our readers would believe that they've blown up pretty well. They've had a lot of MTV, XXL, BET, and other major publications coverage and I see them getting bigger in the new year but I'm happy for these guys that their already famous faces are going to shine even more. J.Cole and Mac reportedly plan to release studio albums in late 2011 as well. Sorry to take your spotlight Rockie, just figured we'd clear that up while it wasn't too late.

On to Rockie Fresh. The 19-year old started seriously recording music in only 2009 with his mixtape Rockie's Modern Life. Rockie's Modern Life was more than solid and garnered fantastic reviews. The real story here is his latest tape, The Otherside which garnered 15,000 downloads in it's first week alone. It has some great bangers and a feature from my personal favorite Phil Ade, as well as hosting by DJ Ill Will and Rockstar. What I think is so promosing about Rockie is that hes done this in such a short amount of time. He's gotten major buzz, and image that's hot as of lately and real raps to go long with it. The features he picks on his songs are on point; other up and comers and relatively unknown names on the hooks, it's a cool vibe. Anyways, look out for Rockie in the future and tell me who YOU think should be #8. Thing are about to get a lot more interesting..

Here's some tracks I think deserved a little more shine on the latest tape, Enjoy!