Blood, sweat and rap

Posted
Sept. 15

It’s tricky to go against the grain, particularly if you have the expectations of many resting on your shoulders. But sometimes, it’s necessary; for rapper Marcus Jones, known better as Rosco P, there was no other way. “I lived in a household where everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to go to college and get a good degree and go to school and get a good job.' Once I got into college, I realized that I was clearly going for everyone except myself. I didn’t want to be here, this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So, two weeks into Art History 101,” he said with a laugh, “I left, and I’ve been making music ever since. It’s the best decision I ever made.” But things weren’t easy right after his break from LCC — he soon lost his job. Instead of wallowing in the difficult moment, Jones decided to funnel all his energy into creating music. Fastforward five years, and the 25-year-old rapper has been making waves locally.

“I recorded a bunch of songs, but the one that really sparked everything was this track I made called 'Blue Benjamins.' It’s a song about being an entrepreneur and finding financial freedom over 808-laden beats,” Jones said. “It was kind of cool. I decided that I was going to take substance and put it over what was trap music at the time, and it worked.” It worked so well that soon his song was playing over the air on Power 96.5 FM and even over the loudspeakers at Common Ground Music Festival. “Right over the main stage, so everybody heard it. The next year, we were invited, and then the next year, we said, if we could just progress all year and get a better set time, and that was this year. We were offered the 11 p.m. slot,” Jones said. “I actually closed after Big Sean, and I went from opening the festival to seeing people running over the hill to see me.

I was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing. We’re doing something here; it’s really working.” Now, he will head back to Adado Riverfront Park to open for Lansing’s all-Hip-Hop festival, PRIME. Performing alongside names like Machine Gun Kelly, Waka Flocka Flame, Migos and more. He said that his secret is making relatable, “substance”- filled music. “I want for it to be cool to be normal. A lot of trap music is like doing drugs and selling this or driving that, whatever have you. I like to make things that are more relatable to the everyday human being. Not a lot of us are doing that, so why can’t we just shed light on more relatable topics,” he said. “I try to give real-life substance over those kind of beats. You’re still turning up and everything, and you’re like, ‘Yo, I just figured out how to get out of that life circumstance.’”

Jones has branded his new take on traditional trap sounds as iTrap and has a new music schedule to come out soon. He will also star t touring after his PRIME set.

“At the end of September, we are hitting the road and seeing everything. We’re still planning, we’re very hands on, we’re doing everything ourselves,” Jones said. Before all that, however, Jones is excited to try his hand at stagediving. “I always climb up on the guard rail,” Jones said. “But this time around, people want me in it, so I’m jumping into it.”

“Rosco P at PRIME Music Festival”

Friday, Sept. 15 4-4:45 p.m.

Tickets start at $35 Adado Riverfront Park, 201 E. Shiawassee St., Lansing primemusicfest.com.

Instagram Handle: @ roscoxp

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