(Photo courtesy of Light View Photography)
When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, the same answer is usually not expected from them 10 years later. In his case, the answer that he stated 10 years prior to now still remains the same.Jamaal Grant, also known as “Jroc”, a junior marketing major and strategic communications minor from Michgan has dreams of one day becoming the next big hip hop artist.
Jroc realized he had a passion for writing and started to perform in middle school where he did his first performance. Ever since then he’s displayed the drive, work ethic, and determination to get to his destination. Jroc has many people supporting him including his mother Celeste Williams. He gains a lot of his inspiration from Pharell, Andre 3000, and Nas.
As far as getting signed, Jroc likes the idea of staying an independent artist. “I don’t want to be signed. I want to be independent, get money, and not have to worry about showing up on stuff because they want me to do it. I want to do it on my own terms.”
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(Photo courtesy of Jamaal Grant’s Instagram)
With success, of course comes obstacles, Jroc goes through difficulties of getting his music recognized by administration frequently. However, he does not let that stop him. “People think that when I opened up for Migos and Rich Homie Quan for homecoming, I just easily got put on that. When I get on events like that, I really have to force it and people in the office are really pushing for me. I’m thankful.”
As an up and coming hip hop star Jamaal most admires when people refer to him as his stage namebecause they are familiar and have respect for his music. Jroc’s words of advice to anyone with a deep passion for something is to always follow your dreams. He also says to “Keep your head up and have a strong team around you. Your team is bigger than you.”
Be on the lookout for Jroc’s video for his single “Gurlahh”.He plans to release his next big project in spring 2014. In the meantime, you can listen and download his current mixtape “On Campus” at Soundcloud.com/iAmMrRoc .