The Godfather Too: How Roc Marciano Created The Blueprint For Modern Underground Rap

Source: Johnny Nunez / GettyThere was a time when what Roc Marciano was doing did not constitute a movement. There was no convenient subgenre name for it, no algorithm feeding listeners endless variations of it and certainly no thriving ecosystem of rappers selling limited vinyl, expensive digital downloads and merch directly to fiercely loyal audiences. There was just Roc. Today, sparse soul loops, barely-there drums, hushed threats, dense rhyme schemes, designer references and cinematic street writing are embedded in modern underground rap. You can hear pieces of that language throughout the work of Griselda and its extended universe, in Nicholas Craven’s production, in Ransom’s career resurgence, and across a wider network of artists who have built devoted audiences without requiring mainstream radio or major-label machinery.Roc Marciano did not invent underground hip-hop. He did not invent mafioso rap, sampling, rapping without drums or rhyming about expensive things while describing inexpensive ways to die. Kool G Rap, Rakim, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, RZA, EPMD, Pete Rock, Kool Keith and plenty of other architects laid bricks before him.What Roc did was inherit tha...