Roach Gigz or Roach, is an American
rapper and
hyphy hip hop artist from the
San Francisco Bay Area. Gigz released his first independent album in 2012, entitled ''Bugged Out''. He runs his own label,
Goomba Records.
Career
Early career
While a student at
Leadership High School
Leadership High School is a public charter high school located in San Francisco. Founded in 1997, Leadership or "LHS" was California's first start-up charter high school. The school provides a college-preparatory curriculum and focuses on leader ...
, Roach Gigz was involved with Youth Radio, an
East Bay Area nonprofit youth organization, and then started to develop an interest in
rapping. In 2006, Gigz started rapping in his closet with a microphone, and started to create his own hip hop songs, which were liked by his peers.
He first gained fame locally after forming a hip hop duo called Bitch I Go (B.I.G.) with rapper Lil 4Tay. Roach Gigz was given the nickname due to his resemblance to a character from the movie ''
Next Friday
''Next Friday'' is a 2000 American stoner comedy film and the sequel to the 1995 film ''Friday''. It is the first film to be produced by Ice Cube's film production company Cubevision. It was directed by Steve Carr and stars Ice Cube, Mike Epps, ...
'' named Roach, and "gigz" due to his frequent performance at gigs around Northern California.
2010-present
In May 2010, Gigz released his first major
mixtape
A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...
entitled ''Roachy Balboa'', which received much airplay on Bay Area radio station
106.1 KMEL.
Pitchfork music critic David Drake described the mixtape as "one of the most energetically fun rap records released this year."
Gigz was selected to be KMEL's Top 10 Freshman Rappers of the Bay Area.
In November 2010, he released his single "Can I Rap". A music video for the song was uploaded onto
YouTube and has received over one million views.
[
Mixtape ''Roachy Balboa 2'' was released in January 2011, and the mixtape ''Bitch, I'm a Player'' was released in August 2011.]iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
on September 4, 2012. The album features fourteen tracks, and a digital booklet.
Discography
Studio albums
* 2012 Bugged Out
* 2015 The Float
EPs
* 2010 Roach Gigz & Lil 4 Tay - From Another
* 2012 Bitch I'm A Player
Mixtapes
* 2008 Bitch I Go Vol. 1
* 2009 Buckets And Booty Calls
* 2010 Roachy Balboa
* 2011 Roachy Balboa - Round 2
* 2012 Roach Gigz & Iamsu - Heartbreak Goomba
* 2012 Hot Air Balloons & Cinnamon Sticks
* 2013 Roachy Balboa - Round 3
* 2015 Roachy Balboa - Round 4
Influences
Gigz cites rappers 2Pac
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
and Mac Dre as his musical influences, who are both artists that grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also states Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, and Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
to be among his hip hop artist influences. He claimed that the first rap song that he heard that got him interested in wanting to rap was "Summertime in the LBC" by The Dove Shack, a Long Beach hip hop group. Gigz first heard of it in elementary school and described the fact that it was a "California song" made him feel connected to it.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach Gigz
American people of Italian descent
1988 births
Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area
Hip hop musicians from San Francisco
Living people
21st-century American rappers