Rocco Rampino (born 1983, in

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

), better known as Congorock, is an Italian

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and DJ. He is best known for his song "Babylon" in 2010. In 2012 Congorock toured with Barbadian R&B singer

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

on her 777 Tour, at around about the same time Congorock remixed the song "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

" which made Congorock heard to Rihanna. The song "Sirius" with Alle Benassi was included on the soundtrack to the 2012 film ''

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

'' by

Josh Trank Joshua Benjamin Trank (born February 19, 1984) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film editor. He is known for directing the found-footage sci-fi thriller film ''Chronicle'' (2012), the superhero film ''Fantastic Four'' (2015), and t ...

. Congorock is managed by Three Six Zero Group.

Musical career

In 2007 when moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the United States he began working with The Bloody Beetroots' Bob Rifo (also from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). The two began working together and eventually released their debut single at the same time, as a collaboration between the two. The song was called "Rombo" and featured on The Bloody Beetroots debut EP of the same name. The ''Rombo'' EP featured 5 songs. Congorock once stated in an interview on "The Bloody Beetroots Gazette" that he was

Crookers Crookers is the musical project of Italian DJ and producer Francesco "Phra" Barbaglia. Crookers was originally a duo consisting of Phra and fellow producer Bot, who worked together from 2003 to 2012. When the two artists met, both were trying to ...

#1 Fan, he was also influenced by the

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene ...

album ''

Rooty ''Rooty'' is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 25 June 2001 by the record labels XL and Astralwerks in the UK and US respectively. Like its predecessor '' Remedy'', ''Rooty'' was well-received c ...

''. In 2010 Rampino joined with Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo,

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

and Scott Cogo to form the

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 ...

band Rifoki. They released one EP named ''Sperm Donor'' in winter 2010. The song "Zombie Attack" featuring vocals from punk band Refused along with Bob Rifo's own vocals. "Zombie Attack" was successful enough to be included on the 2010 edition of ''I Love Techno'' mixed by Aoki. Also it was included on the Dim Mak compilation ''Dim Mak Hardcore (Punk) Vault''. Rifoki is heavily influenced by rock and metal but it has a dance beat. Rampino plays guitars in the band, Rifo provides vocals and mixdowns along with mixdowns and DJing by Aoki and Cogo. On the

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transpla ...

song "Misfits" with Steve Aoki from his album ''

Give the Drummer Some ''Give the Drummer Some'' is the debut solo studio album by American drummer Travis Barker. Barker had earlier announced that the album would be slated for a September 14, 2010 release, but was later pushed back, with the album being released on M ...

'' the collaboration between Barker and Aoki counts them both as featured artists. But on the writing credits it states it is written by Rocco Rampino, Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo, Steve Aoki, Scott Cogo and Travis Barker. This makes the song produced by Rifoki as Sir Bob provides vocals and Congorock plays guitars while Steve Aoki and Scott Cogo DJ the track with Travis Barker's drumming.

Solo career

Congorock eventually released his own EP, ''Runark'', on 17 March 2009. It featured five songs: "Runark", "Runark (Joker of the Scene Remix)", "Exodus", "Hybro" and "Runark (His Majesty Andre Remix)". After ''Runark'', Congorock collaborated with fellow Italian

duo Blatta & Inesha, they produced ''Stepoff!/People''. Also in 2008; Congorock collaborated with fellow Italian

duo

to produce the song "Sbombers" (sometimes written as Sbomberz, S-Bombers or S Bombers). He remixed the song "Bite Your Lip" by Blatta & Inesha and another song "Bubblicious" by electronic artist Rex the Dog. On 20 April 2010 Congorock released one of his most successful singles to date, "Babylon", featuring an original mix, a dub version and a Lexxapella version. "Babylon" became successful enough to get onto the '' Ministry of Sound Annual 2011'' compilation, which was released in 2010. It was also put onto another

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

compilation, this time it was the winter edition of the "Addicted To Bass" series. After the success of "Babylon", Congorock went on to remix the Swedish House Mafia song

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. After the remix of "

", "Babylon" started to receive its own remixes on 7 September 2010. Some of the remixing artists included Proxy, Steve Angello (of Swedish House Mafia) and

CJ Bolland Christian Jay "C. J." Bolland (born 18 June 1971, Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English-Belgian electronic music producer and remixer with British roots. Born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, Bolland's family moved to Antwerp in Flanders ...

. Congorock's next project was a remix of the

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

song " Somebody to Love Me". Congorock also went on to remix the Benny Benassi song "Electroman" and " Cinema", the Congorock remix was on the same single as the remix by Skrillex which was nominated as best remix at the 2011

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s. On 11 November 2011 Congorock teamed up with Benny Benassi's cousin and co-worker Alle Benassi to produce the song "Sirius". The song would later go on to appear on the soundtrack to the 2012 film ''

'' directed by

. Congorock released another single shortly after, this was "Ivory" which was released on 28 November 2011. "Ivory" became successful and would have remixes later on 8 May 2012. After "Ivory", Congorock remixed The Bloody Beetroots song "Church of Noise" which featured Dennis Lyxzén and Bob Rifo on vocals. On 20 March Congorock released ''Monolith/Agarta''. "Monolith" was included on the Benny Benassi mixed compilation ''Cavo Paradiso 2012''. Congorock also released "Liu Kang's Theme" which was a single from '' Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors''. After this Congorock released an "Ivory Remixes EP", the remixing artists included Laidback Luke, The Bloody Beetroots, Mumbai Science and NT89. He then collaborated with dance project Stereo Massive and Jamaican rapper

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

to create the song "Bless Di Nation". He then remixed the song "

We Run the Night "We Run the Night" is a song by Australian DJ and recording artist Havana Brown, written and produced by Cassie Davis and Snob Scrilla of production duo More Mega. It was released for digital download on by Island Records ( Universal Music A ...

" by

Havana Brown The Havana Brown was the result of a planned breeding between Siamese and domestic black cats, by a group of cat fanciers in England, in the 1950s. Early breeders introduced a Siamese type Russian Blue into their breeding. However, using curren ...

and

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

. He started working with Barbadian R&B singer

on her 777 Tour, he also remixed the song "

". His most recent project is the remix of the

Clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mec ...

song "Titan", he decided the song was good enough already and he wanted to keep the bass drop so he made a Safari Edit instead of an actual remix. It included some drum samples and didn't edit the tempo. He collaborated with the Swedish/American house duo

AN21 AN21 (Antoine Gabriel Michel Haydamous Josefsson, born Stockholm, Sweden ), is a Greek-Swedish DJ and record producer. He is the younger brother of Steve Angello, a producer and member of Swedish House Mafia. In ''DJ Magazine''s polls of the ...

Max Vangeli Maksim "Max" Vangeli (born 4 August 1985) is a Moldovan DJ and record producer based in San Francisco, United States. Vangeli is best known for his house music productions and collaboration with Swedish DJ and record producer Antoine Josefsson, ...

on the song "Lost" (credited as 'AN21 & Max Vangeli vs Congorock'). It was included on their album ''People of the Night'' released through SIZE Records. After this he has remixed the songs "Cowboy" by Zeds Dead featuring Omar LinX and "Pogo" by Laidback Luke featuring Majestic. Upon the fall on 2013 Congorock made the song "Minerals" on

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

along with electro house producer Nom De Strip. The song was released on 8 December 2013. The musical style is significantly different from other previous Congorock releases, the song has far less percussion instruments. The song "Seth" was released on 23 December 2013. It was released on Chris Lake's record label Rising Music, the song included many Indian and Egyptian instruments and percussions. The musical style was similar to that of Nom De Strip of whom Congorock previously collaborated. "

Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...

" is an Egyptian God, so the song's sound and vibe were based on Egyptian elements. Since then Congorock has collaborated with EDM trio

Daddy's Groove Daddy's Groove are an Italian house band formed by Carlo Grieco and Peppe Folliero. Based in Naples, Daddy's Groove have co-produced and remixed for artists such as Axwell, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Sia, Nicki Minaj, Celine Dion, Bruno Mars, ...

on "Synthemilk" and with DJ Clockwork on "Infinite Mana". Both were released on

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

. In 2015 Congorock released "Nok Nok", a collaboration with fellow electro house producer Mindshake, and another single "Black Sun" with Daddy's Groove.

Remix albums

Congorock released remix albums (or EP's) for both the songs "Babylon". The remixing artists on the EP include Steve Angello (of Swedish House Mafia),

, and Proxy. The original mix and Lexxapella version are also both on this EP. The cover is a seven sided star which is questioned to be satanic, but is, in fact, a play on words as the ancient goddess Babalon (from the Thelema system) has a

heptagram A heptagram, septagram, septegram or septogram is a seven-point star drawn with seven straight strokes. The name ''heptagram'' combines a numeral prefix, ''hepta-'', with the Greek suffix '' -gram''. The ''-gram'' suffix derives from ''γρ� ...

which is used as the "Seal of Babalon". The

is more visible on the remix album but it does actually appear on the original single but is distorted by the dragon picture. There are also remixes for the song "Ivory". The remixing artists are Laidback Luke, The Bloody Beetroots, Mumbai Science and NT89. On 8 January 2013, there was remixes released for "Bless Di Nation" featuring Stereo Massive and

, there are seven tracks on the EP. Remixing artists include Firebeatz, Clockwork, Valentino Khan, GTA, Torro Torro and

Ookay Abraham Laguna, known by his stage name Ookay, is an American electronic music producer, DJ and singer. Career Laguna is based in Los Angeles and his father is a bassist who performed a bass solo during Ookay's Father's Day set at EDC 2015. ...

Logo

In early 2008 for the song "Rombo" with The Bloody Beetroots the Congorock logo was not included on the cover art for the EP, but by the time of the song "Sbombers" with

the logo was included. At that time it was designed to be similar to an arcade game style, it mounted up in the middle. In 2009 when he released his own EP "Runark" it ascended and then descended on the 'rock' part of the word. On "Stepoff!/People" the Congorock and Blatta & Inesha logos were not stylized and were both written in plain text. When the song "Babylon" was released the logo was dented in the middle and numerous spikes emerged from the corners, two eyes were also in the middle of the second O, the logo and

are more visible on the "Babylon Remixes" album. In 2011 by the release of "Ivory" the logo took an African theme, the O's were slanted; this is how the logo remained until the recent release of the song "Bless Di Nation". The Congorock logo is written in plain white text on "Bless Di Nation", but

and Stereo Massive are also written the same way. Since the release of "Bless Di Nation" the logo has not taken a specific style, on the artwork of the following releases the typography used would differ every time. On the majority of the releases the Congorock logo wasn't styled in any way; with the exception of "Synthemilk" which used the established logo from 2011. No more releases since Synthemilk have used the logo again.

Musical style

At first Congorock's style was mainly dance-punk and electro, his style then changed to moombahton when he released "Babylon". His style varied to

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...

afterwards but still included African percussion instruments. Ivory and Sirius were heavy on electro house, whereas the percussions seemed to be less dominant when he remixed Zedd's "

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

", the sound changed to a more house sound, this has remained on songs such as "Bless Di Nation", but percussion was then used. Congorock has not used such instruments on his recent remixes. On recent songs such as "Minerals" and "Seth" has been more electronic sounds backed by some percussion instruments but not as predominant as were previously featured on songs such as "Babylon" and "Monolith". On the Congorock remix of the Laidback Luke song "Pogo" featuring British grime rapper MC Majestic there is a heavy hardcore bass sound, similar to that in moombahton and hard dance. The recent song "Synthemilk" with

is mainly

but some

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

s are audible. The following song "Infiniate Mana" with DJ Clockwork is of a

hard house UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy te ...

style; of which Clockwork is known for. In 2015 Congorock did not differ heavily in musical style, his tracks would continue to have an electro house BPM, similar synths and percussion's were used, but the "Congo" influence once seen in Congorock's style had seemed to mostly fade away. No EDM subgenres (such as Moombahton and

Dutch house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...

) were produced anymore. The releases "Nok Nok" and "Black Sun" were both collaborations and included a mass amount of the collaborating artists style within the track. However the "Congo" percussion's were clearly audible as the bass line for "Nok Nok".

Discography

Singles/EP's

* Rombo (with The Bloody Beetroots) (2008) * Sbombers (with

) (2008) * Runark EP (2009) * Stepoff!/People (with Blatta & Inesha) (2009) * Babylon (featuring

Mr. Lexx Christopher George Palmer (born 11 May 1974), better known as "Mr. Lexx", "Lexxus" or simply "The Prince" is a Jamaican dancehall artist from East Kingston, Jamaica. He is known for the success of his debut album entitled ''Mr. Lex'' on the Bill ...

) (2010) * Babylon Remixes EP (2010) * Kapongo Dance (with Berou and

Canblaster Canblaster is the pseudonym of French DJ and producer Cédric Steffens, and one fourth of French dance music clique Club cheval. Since his first major release in 2010, Steffens has remixed tracks by Erol Alkan, Drop the Lime and Rusko. Biograph ...

) (2011) * Sirius (2011) * Ivory (2011) * Monolith/Agarta (2012) * Liu Kang's Theme (2012) * Ivory Remixes EP (2012) * Bless Di Nation (with

and Stereo Massive) (2012) * Lost (vs

) (2012) * Bless Di Nation Remixes EP (with

and Stereo Massive) (2013) * Minerals (with Nom De Strip) (2013) * Seth (2014) * Synthemilk (with

) (2014) * Infinite Mana (with

) (2014) * Nok Nok (with Mindshake) (2015) * Black Sun (with Daddy's Groove) (2015)

Remixes

* Nic Sarno – Hot Jack (2008, ESP Records) * Blatta & Inesha Feat Rqm - Bite Your Lip (2008, Hell Yeah! Music) * Keatch Feat Gehts Noch – Call It Love (2008) * Bugo – Primitivo (2008) * Favretto Feat Naan – What's Your Name? (2008) * Rex the Dog - Bubblicious (2009,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

) * Djedjotronic Feat Spoek – Dirty & Hard (2009, Boysnoize Records) * All Leather – I Don't Hate Fags, God Does (2009, Dim Mak Records) *

Fukkk Offf Fukkk Offf, born Bastian Heerhorst, is a German DJ and producer, whose song "Rave Is King" reached the top of German club charts. He has released one album, ''Love Me Hate Me Kiss Me Kill Me'', under the Coco Machete Records record label. It deb ...

– More Than Friends (2009, Coco Machete) * D-Bag Feat Naan – Up to the Boy (2009) * Romanthony's Nightvision – Never F*** (2009, Launch Entertainment) *

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

of MSTRKRFT & St. Andrew – Face Pump (2010, Teenage Riot Recordings) * Swedish House Mafia –

(feat Pharrell) (2010,

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

) *

Feat

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

Andrew Wyatt Andrew Wyatt Blakemore is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, he began his career playing in New York bands such as The A.M. and Black Beetle. He gained wider notability as the frontman ...

– Somebody to Love Me (2010,

) * Benny Benassi Feat T-Pain – Electroman (2011,

) * Berou &

– Kapongo Dance (2011, Moveltraxx) * Benny Benassi Feat

Gary Go Gary Baker, known professionally as Gary Go, is a British songwriter, producer, composer and media artist. He has written and produced songs performed by artists including Rihanna, Robbie Williams, Steve Angello, Benny Benassi, Gryffin, Take That ...

– Cinema (2011,

) * The Bloody Beetroots Feat Dennis Lyxzén –

Church of Noise "Church of Noise" is a song by rock band Therapy?, released as a single on A&M Records on 2 March 1998. It is taken from the ''Semi-Detached'' album. This single reached number 29 in the UK Singles Chart. The single was released on CD, red 7" v ...

(2011,

) *

Feat

–

(2012,

) * Zedd Feat

Matthew Koma Matthew Bair (born June 2, 1987), known professionally as Matthew Koma, is an American singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer. Songs written by Koma include "Spectrum" and Grammy Award-winner "Clarity", both performed by Zedd. Koma has colla ...

–

(2012,

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

) *

–

(2012,

) *

– Titan (2012, Mad Decent) * Zeds Dead & Omar LinX – Cowboy (2013,

) * Laidback Luke feat Majestic – Pogo (2013, Mixmash Records)

References

; Inline references ; Other sources * * * {{Authority control 1983 births Italian record producers Living people People from Lecce Italian DJs Italian electronic musicians Electronic dance music DJs