On Sept. 24, Chicago rapper Rockie Fresh kicks off his “Electric Highway Tour” in Tucson with a performance with one of hip-hop’s recently exalted artists, 2 Chainz. On Wednesday night, the Midwest emcee will make his way to The Bay to rock 330 Ritch in San Francisco. This weekend, Intermission chatted with Rockie Fresh to check in on his tour and to see what his blossoming career has in store.
Having recently signed with Rick Ross’ music label, Maybach Music Group, in July, Fresh – known to his mother as Donald Pullen – is making the transition into the large studio-label world of hip-hop.
Pullen stated that there are now more “players to the game. More producers and different people are now a greater part of my work.”
Despite that, he hasn’t jumped into the professional studio just yet. Constantly on the move with his tour, most of his work is still being done out of hotel rooms.
Inspired by rock artists such as Good Charlotte and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, when asked if he had the same sort of rock star bravado on stage, Pullen admits, “I’m not as wild as a lot of [rock] guys. My performance style is pretty chill.”
He has garnered inspiration from artists such as Stump, but for Pullen it’s more about the underlying message of his lyrics and the music itself, not so much the performance style. At 330 Ritch, it’s safe to say a rather chill Pullen will be taking the stage.
When asked about his greatest musical influences, Pullen stated that Jay-Z, John Mayer and the inspiration of his family and friends have had the greatest effect on his music. Collaborating with artists such as Jay-Z and John Mayer is a dream of Pullen’s, and that he’d love to create “legendary stuff” with them.
We later posed a little bit of a tougher question to Pullen, and asked him to pick his favorite Chicago rapper.
“I’ve got to go with Kanye [West],” Pullen said, claiming the boisterous hip-hop superstar as his favorite Chicago rapper.
During the week, Pullen will take a slight break from his tour to visit a friend of his at Stanford. Keep an eye out for the Chicago star touring the quad sometime this week.
Intermission will be hosting Rockie Fresh at The Stanford Daily on Wednesday, Sept. 23 as well as giving out three pairs of tickets to his SF concert at 330 Ritch. To meet Rockie and to win tickets, email Intermission at [email protected] to tell us why you deserve to get Fresh.