R.O.E.

 Hailing from the Westside of Chicago, and influenced by ‘90s hip hop, Soul Music and poetry, R.O.E., which stands for Rising Over Envy, takes both his influences and his upbringing and delivers that concoction to the people in a hip hop style. During the wave of music being pushed via hip hop blogs and other music sites, R.O.E. has buzzed onto the feeds of many top sites, including Rap Radar, Fake Shore Drive, Ruby Hornet, The Smoking Section, DJ Booth, FUSE and Rock The Dub. His feature in the Chicago Red Eye led to an invite by the Chicago Tribune to perform at the Chicago Theatre for “Chicago Live” in 2011.R.O.E.’s blend of hip hop flavor with meaningful lyrics and sharp delivery has been spread out over quality releases like A Backpacker Named R.O.E., his official introduction to the new fans while reminding the mainstays why they stuck around in the first place. The lead single, “I Won”, helped get R.O.E.’s name out, with love not just coming from the blog circuit but independent and college radio spins as well. Mr. Backpacker wears both his pack and that name proud, dripping his new school tracks with a familiar Golden Age glisten, helping bridge the gap that so many fans of the “old school” see in today’s music.R.O.E. isn’t just rocking tracks to a D.A.T. machine, though. With his band, The Soulvillians, R.O.E. has a captivating live show, already performing at countless events and venues across the country. If you’re a fan of honest, quality hip hop minus the politics and body count, R.O.E. is the perfect answer for your hip hop question.

• http://risingoverenvy.com/