Certified Fresh: Sir Michael Rocks Living In The Lap Of Luxury

As the duo The Cool Kids, Chuck Inglish and Sir Michael Rocks (formerly Mikey Rocks) ushered in a fresh new sound in 2007 rooted in traditional boom-bap matched with high fashion swag, joining similar acts such as past collaborators Pac Div. Representing the Midwest by way of Detroit and Chicago respectively, Inglish and Rocks have recently called an end to their union as The Cool Kids but still have a strong working partnership (and new joint projects as well).

Now a notable soloist as part of the Chicago-based One Off Music Group label, Sir Michael Rocks is aiming to establish himself as his own man.

Who: Sir Michael Rocks hails from the Greater Chicago area, getting his start via Myspace back in the mid-2000s. His time with the Cool Kids lasted from 2007 to this month, but Rocks has been busy. Releasing five solo mixtapes in that time span, the smooth-voiced MC has also worked with rappers Boldy James, Chip Tha Ripper, Mac Miller and producers Cardo, Hit-Boy and DJ duo Flosstradamus.

Credentials: Sir Michael Rocks’ specialty is pairing his smooth, hazy delivery over thumping head nod inspiring tracks. Tracks like the sunny “GED” and the speedy, double-time bars of “Now You Do” represent the growth of Rocks as a solo MC. He even holds it down on posse cuts as well, like the hypnotic “Great” featuring Casey Veggies and Mac Miller.

Fun Facts: As part of The Cool Kids, Rocks and Inglish were once signed to DJ A-Trak’s (aka Kanye West’s DJ) label Fool’s Gold for a spell.  Currently signed to Chicago label One Off Music Group, Rocks is still deeply affiliated with Curren$y‘s Jet Life Recordings but not as an official signee as previously reported. With collaborations recorded alongside Pac Div, Rockie Fresh and Jeremih in the can, expect to see the Coogi sweater-rocking Rocks on more joints in the coming months.

For our latest Certified Fresh feature, Hip-Hop Wired chopped it up with Sir Michael Rocks about his solo endeavors, working on establishing his sound with One Off, and what else he has in store for 2013 and beyond.

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Photo: Sir Michael Rocks

Sir Michael Rocks burst onto the scene with The Cool Kids, part of a wave of young acts looking to capitalize on the fast-moving channels of the Internets. While the lanes were less crowded when he began his career, the Chicago-based Rocks doesn’t feel like he’s had much of a struggle in being heard despite the rising numbers of folks competing for the same ear drums he hopes to attract.

“I don’t think it’s much of a struggle in getting heard these days, it’s just a matter of coming out at the right time,” said a laid-back Rocks. “You just have to be heard when it’s time, it’s all about timing.”

Speaking of time, Rocks hasn’t wasted much of it, working releasing five free mixtape projects in the last two years along with The Cool Kids Debut in late 2011 as well. The latest project, Lap Of Lux 1.5, dropped just two weeks ago. Rocks says he intends to have a similar release schedule for next year as well.

Although fans of The Cool Kids were no doubt saddened by the news of the “break up” as reported by AllHipHop, Sir Michael Rocks wanted to clear the air about the news and let everyone know that he and Chuck Inglish are still tight as ever. With Inglish raising his profile as both an A-list producer and rapper and Micheal’s solo grind, the pair have decided to build brands separate of one another but still as a unified front.

“I just want to set the story straight, it’s not that we’re not going to do music together anymore, we’re just not going to be doing it as The Cool Kids,” explained Rocks. “We’re still very much involved on the music side and on a bunch of different levels. We’re just giving new looks to something we’ve been doing already.”

Rocks gets even deeper, adding, “We don’t want to come back and people expecting us like we were in 2007, and try to put out another Cool Kids album in the same way we did before. It’s just a new look. Maybe I’m producing all the records and Chuck is rapping, or maybe I’m not rappping or we get an outside producer. We may add a female singer, the list goes on. It won’t be under the name Cool Kids. We’re young, but we’ve grown out of being called kids. We’ve got smart fans, we don’t want to do them a disservice by giving them old stuff.”

Sir Michael Rocks seems really comfortable as a soloist now, but that wasn’t always the case. Creating his first solo mixtape The Rocks Report out of label frustration and a need to record, it would spell the start of Rocks’ solo career and served as the launching pad for the artist that appears today.

Rocks admitted he was afraid to jump out on his own away from the successful Cool Kids umbrella, but felt a need to establish himself on his own two. Around 2010, Chuck Inglish began to work with notable rappers such as Danny Brown, Freddie Gibbs, Chip Tha Ripper, Dom Kennedy and a host of others. Rocks felt like it was time for him to take a similar path in spreading his wings.

“It became evident to me, especially around the second mixtape Premier Politics, that this solo thing was moving,” shared Rocks. “Chuck was getting his beats to high profile artists and I began meeting new people and producers. Around that time too, Chuck moved to Los Angeles and I was still living in Chicago. It made it more difficult to make music together because we had always lived together and worked together. I felt this was my chance to get myself heard and he [Chuck] was doing what he was supposed to be doing. It just made sense.”

At just 23 years of age, Sir Michael Rocks is poised to be around for some time as  he continues to hone his sound. His situation with Curren$y has been well publicized, but he’s actually running with home team. One Off Music Group is also home to Chicago veteran GLC, up and coming Universal Republic signee YP and the aforementioned Cardo.

“I feel like I’m coming into a breakthrough right now,” said Rocks. “I don’t know what it is, I don’t know what I’m gonna be doing, but it’s something major about to happen. In my music and in my artistry, I’m really starting to find myself .”

Rocks spoke fondly of Curren$y as well, saying that Spitta “really opened up a lot of doors” for him. He did mention that while he’s down for the Jet Life team, he’s steadying himself with One Off and Chuck Inglish is a big part of that.

“Chuck is real big in my corner, and I’m real big in his corner. Nothing really changed, and people mad about the so-called split but we’re just as tight as ever. I love Chuck like we came from the same mother. That’s my brother,” said Rocks.

Next up for the former “cool kid” is the Banco mixtape, and he’s really excited with sharing that project with the world. He also wanted to let fans know that if they loved The Cool Kids, the duo has huge plans for the doubters.

It appears that on all fronts, Sir Michael Rocks is living luxurious indeed.