biography

Emilio Rojas is a rapper and recording artist from Rochester, New York now living in Washington Heights, New York. His career spans five independent mixtape releases including co-productions with DJ Green Lantern, Famous Stars and Straps, and Billionaire Boys Club. His 2013 mixtape, No Shame… No Regrets charted at 14 on the iTunes hip-hop chart despite the fact that it was also available for free download.

The son of a Venezuelan father and an American mother. When he was 10, his father left the family leaving him to be raised by his mother.  Before leaving, his father, had been physically and mentally abusive to all the members of the household. Using music as an outlet for the negative energy these experiences sparked, the young rapper’s music took on a raw and personal tone. The best examples of the influence of these events can be heard on his records “Sympathy for the Devil”, “Seek You Out”, and “Tomorrow Never Comes”.

Rojas’ upbringing also led him to tackle socio-political issues and issues of ethnic and racial identity in his music. “Right to stay” is a graphic first person narrative about a corrupt immigration officer and the undocumented immigrant woman he exploits in exchange for a free pass on her citizenship status. Rojas told the NY Daily News, "My father is Venezuelan, and I'm trying to reconnect with those roots. This is real stuff that happens. It's a human rights issue." On records such as “Spic” and “All Mixed Up,” Rojas addresses the expectations of being Hispanic in the United States, in addition to his own cultural identity issues as a biracial individual, struggling to gain acceptance into both the Hispanic or white community.

influcences

Emilio Rojas is a New York artist and his strongest influences are also New York artists. Jay N, Nas, Big Pun were the strongest early role models in his career. Eminem is also a strong influence on his delivery and flow, a connection made only stronger by his affiliation with former Shady Records artist DJ Green Lantern.

music career

Emilio Rojas has has never signed to a major label. His career and following have grown organically from an entirely independent model.  He has worked closely and released projects with numerous prestigious streetwear brands such as Travis Barker’s Famous Stars and Straps and Pharell’s Billionaire Boys Club. In 2012 and 2013 rumours began to circulate that Rojas was going to be signed to Rick Ross’ MMG imprint.  Ross tweeted about the partnership, addressed the rumours  with Sway on MTV News, as well as released a Vlog arm in arm with Rojas.

Music blogs and other local artists have been crucial supporters of Rojas’ music since the very beginning of his career, namely The New Music Cartel – Nahright, onsmash, 2dopeboyz, eskay, Legend, Shake and Meka.

Rojas has been a regular performer on major hip-hop outlets, performing for BET Backroom Cipher in 2013, MTV Mixtape Daily 2013, BET Hiphop Awards Cypher 2014, in addition to numerous appearances on MTV Rapfix and MTV Jamz. Rojas has also appeared on almost all major Sirius hip-hop radio shows, including Kay Slay, Sway in the Morning, Static Selektah, Tony Touch and more.

Rojas had entered into a partnership with industry leader Violator Management in 2012. The agreement was reached just prior to Violator founder and hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty committing suicide in August of 2012.