Rocky Rivera

_Published 878 days ago

Meet our ‘illest’ Femme Fatale — Rocky Rivera. This slick talking writer not only talks a good game, she’s one of the few MC’s to merge out from the Bay Area with versatility on the mic. Having famed her thoughts in highly respected magazines and being a woman of empowerment, she’s taking the industry by storm, one city at a time.

Rocky, you’re from the Bay but you also travel down south to LA a lot. Am I correct? Where do you prefer home and why?

I was raised all my life in San Francisco but recently moved down to Los Angeles. The culture and terrain are so drastically different that it’s been 3 years and I’m still transitioning! SF will always have my heart (and my lungs), but LA is the place to be, I can’t even front. At this point, I’m just happy being West Coast

When did you decide to transition from being a journalist to now becoming a female lyricist?

I’ve always been doing both, simultaneously, but I usually take turns with one or the other. From 2005-2007 I was writing for all sorts of mags, Mass Appeal, XXL, The Source, Rolling Stone, and in 2008, print journalism began its descent, so the industry I knew and enjoyed (getting paychecks from) so well is pretty much non-existent! That’s when I decided to take cues and shift my writing abilities around. Also, Hip-Hop itself became pretty disappointing to me and I was tired of pitching ignorant 17-year olds with no concept of what Hip-Hop used to sound like, and how powerful it really was. I decided that it was time for me to put the pen down and get in the studio, which was a really liberating experience: no elitist editors, no “institutional voice”, no one telling me that my ideas were okay, but not suited for our readership. And plus, I knew I was better than most of the artists I was pitching and I wanted to prove that to myself.

I’ve read your write up on your recent moniker changes — can you give us a brief rundown on the difference between, Ms. Krish and Rocky Rivera as a person?

Well it’s kinda like Clark Kent and Superman: Ms. Krish is my pen name, somewhere I can really break shit down and articulate, and Rocky Rivera is the persona, the person that I become in the booth and onstage. Also “Ms. Krish” is a journalist, Rocky is an MC. It’s not often that you find a writer that isn’t socially awkward, or an MC who is impeccable with their grammar, so instead of being a walking anomaly, I’m able to compartmentalize and apply each respective person to a different situation! I’ve gotten gangster on wack nerdy bloggers/scholars as Ms. Krish and have developed a reputation (lol) for being a firecracker, but I’ve learned how fragile writers really are and saved my gangsterism for my raps. Writers will always be too nerdy for me to get gully on them.

How has motherhood changed your perspective on life, love, and your future plans/endeavors?

I used to think that motherhood was the end of the road. I was never the maternal type or the Suzy Homemaker of my crew, and when you grow up in the circumstances I did, seeing your friends have babies at 15 and be in these abusive baby daddy situations, I thought that was the ultimate lockdown for women. So after I graduated college and followed my dreams to become a journalist, I met my fiance, Bambu, and thought, “Hey, our babies would be freaking awesome”. But when I actually got pregnant (like 5 minutes later), it shook me to the core. Then I thought of all the things I accomplished thus far and saw how great my homegirls were with their kids and their career, I realized that could wear as many hats as I damn well chose, motherhood being the most important one! So I recorded my entire mixtape, Married to the Hustle, while I was pregnant, and after Kahlil Bayani was born, immediately started writing for my album, Rocky Rivera. I’m hoping to take the whole family on a tour bus one day.

Are you still doing print columns for the widely known Rolling Stone magazine? (had to ask)

Nah, Rolling Stone was an amazing experience, but I love Hip Hop so much more, and we all know how much love RS gives HH…zero! But on the real, I’m grateful to have become a Contributing Editor, but Rolling Stone, today, is not the same Rolling Stone from the 70s that was all about counterculture and “fuck the establishment”. I wish I could have been around during that time, I probably would have been better suited!

If there was a superhero name you would give yourself, what would it be and why?

Well, I’d rather be a villain because it’s so much more fun. Superheroes have sucky love lives because they always have to go and save someone the minute they start a makeout session! I’d be “Dr. Rocky” an crazy mad-scientist-lady-slash-hitwoman that can fix an elixir to cure all your ailments, and use brute force when necessary! But on the surface, I just look like a sexy doctor (with a pHd in bioterrorism).

Finish the sentence: Men get it twisted when, _________________________________.

Men get it twisted when they think I like the whistlin’ Thinkin’ all I’m made of is sugar, spice and cinnamon (I think in bars)

What should we expect from the upcoming 2010 New Year from Ms. Krish and/or Rocky Rivera?

The self-titled album drops February 2, 2010, so be on the lookout for a Rocky Rivera tour on the West Coast and Hawaii! Also, I got two more videos in the works, aside from my first, “MRSHMLO”, so you might be able to see “Dr. Rocky” in all her glory . 2010 is year of The Rock!