Deeply rooted in the former era where rhyme skills took precedence over catchy jingles, fads, marketing schemes and other modern means of garnering attention, Roc Marciano is a heroic figurehead symbolizing Hip Hop’s fight for purity. Walking the road less traveled, he has remained slept on (despite alliances including Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad and varying underground veterans) as a self-produced madman who takes a scientific approach to scripting street verbiage. With high expectations from those in the know, Reloaded is Roc’s hotly anticipated return to a scene craving his presence and intricate wordplay.
Comparable to the literature of Donald Goines, Reloaded finds Roc Marciano painting a gloomy picture as a cold and unfeeling ruler of New York’s concrete jungle. In the same sense as 2010’s critically acclaimed Marcberg, his chosen lane is well thought out boasts about guns, drug peddling, bedding a bevy of women and staying dressed to the nines, a path he hardly deviates from. Holding his own alongside iconic beatmakers, Roc matches the Alchemist’s smooth “Flash Gordon” with “The Man” and uses the jazzy “Peru” as a counterpart for Q-Tip’s similar “Thread Count,” proving to be proficient all around. Though his obscure sampling is interesting, effective rapping stands out as he expertly bobs and weaves through every line to produce art from subtlety, this factor overshadowing the monotone voice often dismissed by naysayers.
Roc Marciano is to be applauded for creating magic as an orator, giving listeners descriptive bars to process should they desire. While vivid gems such as “Push a fly two door like Too Short” from the single “76,” and “Sip the Henny without the chaser, piss on the city from the skyscraper” are sure to resonate with supporters, his advanced pen is a double edged sword as the audience Reloaded aims for has dwindled over the years. Marciano’s outright refusal to relinquish his old school ways and broaden his reach results in enjoyable glorified crime fiction that could render him archaic sooner rather than later, but for right now it’s perfect.
Album of the year! Hands down
classic material.
classic material.
5/5
jkgujkh
There are many dope albums comin out this year.
The Apollo Brown/ Guilty Simpson is also a monster, just like Mic Tyson, Good Kid M.a.a.d. city, Life is good, Thropies just to name a few. Its a good year for hip hop!!
Real Hip Hop revival in 2012 that’s true…good to hear so many dope LP’s !!!!
great list….your missing ADD-2’s Save Our Souls…..official Banger!, i would Saigon’s GSNT pt.2 & Lupe F&L pt. 2 as well
REAL TALK
one of the better albums this year
4 start
Very strong lp! I like every jawn on there. Lyrically Marci’s on the job.. Production is very cold and stoic 4.5/5
He really stepped up on this joint. Just the sonic improvement and the mixing and mastering of this album compared to Marberg. Loved Marcberg..but’s a headphone album b/c of the poor mixing and mastering. I think in terms of major label releases…Nas still has album of the year. But for indie/underground releases..I have a toss up between Reloaded and the OC/Apollo Brown album, but slightly favoring Reloaded. Reloaded is a banger!
Marcberg Was Mastered By The Same Cat Who Mastered Reloaded.
Marcberg Banged In The Whip.
I’m Sure Reloaded Gon Bang As Well.
Track for Track, this is a 5/5 highly recommend.
Roc killed it with this album! 5/5
Better than GKMC
AOTY
After a few listens i like it but i don’t know if it’s better than his homie KA’s – Grief Pedigree. Need to give it a few more spinz.
Phenomenal album front to back just like Dice Game from Apollo Brown and Guilty Simpson.
Pure Hip Hop!!
this sounds like the soundtrack to nino browns peak.
smooth criminal shit. absolutely love this album.
i can see the steam coming out the potholes. i can smell the trash in the back alleys. feel the cold air of the city.
really think this man is a genius with the pen. he writes vivid street talk and comes off incredibly poetic. he doesn’t have to scream on you to keep your attention. reminds me a lot of cormega in that respect, one of my other favorite emcees. the intro took me to another place right off the rip. can’t wait to hear more from this guy. one of the few emcees putting in work i’m not embarrassed to check for. he’s selling his music, not his goofy image or his bullshit twitter personality.
thanks roc. you’re the truth.
This album is very dope but I dont know which one is better this or Dice Game? Dice game is some classic shyt fa real by the way… where the hell is the Dice Game review and hhdx yall bet not mess that review up its def a 4.5 x album!
i like dice game more. better beats
Funny you mention Dice Game. I listened to Reloaded first, and was like shit…aoty right here, then I listened to Dice Game and was like “wow…10/10 aoty right here” lol
I 3rd that although, I’m being completely honest here, now just thinking about it I can’t choose which one is the best Album b/c they’re both Marvelous!! November best month for Hip-Hop in 2012 Hands Down!!!!
Tryin to understand how cats don’t fuck wit Roc…he really sound ikes he spitting to mafia film…so ill love it!!!
Definitely one of the best albums of the year, easily! 4.5/5
Album of the year, im speechless, Thugs prayer pt.2, got me stuck.
Definitely coppin’ tomarrow along wit The Final Adventure!
Dope
GROWN MAN RAP
I listened to “Flash Gordon” produced by the Alchemist and went and bought the album straight up! First album I bought all year – I was that impressed.
this album is incredible. If you’re a REAL hip hop fan, pick this album up asap.
…………Nobody want to say he sound like Raekwon huh? Hiphop heads must be thirsty to just codone this biting. Shit ain’t the same no more…….. HE BIT THE WHOLE STYLE!!!! iS THiS RAEKWON’S SON?….GOTTA BE!! LOL. He Good though
5 star for lyrics
-5 for ORIGINALITY….-8
How the fuck you gonna say he bit Raekwon’s style? That’s like saying Raekwon bit Kool G Rap.
easy dudes!!! this album ain’t a 5/5. not even close. Marcberg is doper and is a 4/5 since the production was lacking and the mixdown was ass. Reloaded is not an improvement except for the mixdown is better. Lyrics are tighter on Marcberg but tight as hell on reloaded. Its just the beats are too slow and lacking drums. all the songs lack energy and drive and it gets sleepy. the beats were better on Marcburg. i get the style he’s executing, just toooooo laid back for me. And the beat is ass. only half the songs on this album are listenable evethough most of the lyrics are on point. 3/5.
GET BETTER PRODUCTION ROC AND TRY SWITCHING TO FASTER BEATS SOMETIMES AND MORE INTENSITY. 1 TRICK PONY GETS BORING.
i agree with that.. i think his project with alchemist will make up for the soft production on this one..
meant to say the Q-Tip beat is weak as fuckk. Whats the point of havin tip and alc help with beats if there just given you throwaway beats for cheap? seems like its just to have there names on the project even though their not contributing anything substantial. alchemist needs to get off that weak drum tip too. album is so hyped and now one of the most over-rated of the year. get off the bandwagon…Suckas!
This is art. Just as good as K.Dot’s shit
classic grimey east coast gangster pimp shit, this album bleeds nostalgia and marciano completely spazzes.
100 PERCENT DOPE. BEST SHIT OF 2012. KA IN SECOND
YOU MIGHT THINK IT SOUNDS RUSHED . IT HAD THIS TBA DATE FOR A YEAR,BUT I BET IN 3 MONTHS THIS WILL STILL HAVE MORE REPLAYS THAN YOUR GRAMMSYS ISLEY BROTHERS . THIS IS WHAT ALBUMS SHOULD SOUND LIKE THEY ARE HAND CRAFTED FOR CUSTOM FIT, WHAT DONT YOU HERBS NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS TAYLOR MADE LEATHER ARMANI GUN BAG SHIT
masterpiece
masterpiece…
clasiicckkkk
clasiicckkkk no doubt
killa album!!
instant classic!
Roc did it again! The realest out right now
album of the year
ay
great album !! really
Kendrick who? This is the truth.
I like Roc, so I’ll be playing this againa and again. First listen wasn’t as strong as Marcberg, but can’t really say without a few more rotations.
This is the best album I’ve heard this year besides Ka’s Grief Pedigree. Instant classic.
He tops Marcberg lyrically but it takes a few listens to appreciate all the quotables he has. Beatwise it’s hit-or-miss and I def think Marcberg’s beats were better. Top-notch album but im missing the “Snow”, “Ridin Around”, and “Pop” gritty feel that he had going.
Couldn’t agree with you more. The beats are nowhere near the same level as Marcberg in my opinion. This album is tough but severely lacking in energy.
damn forgot to add the best one-Panic- That beat knocks
YALL REALLY NEED TO LET THAT SHIT MARINATE.
IT JUST OFFICALLY RELEASED YESTERDAY.
YALL REMINDING ME OF THOSE FEENZ THAT GOT A FAT HIT AND THEN. THEY AINT FEEL IT INSTANTLY. SO THEY TAKE LIKE 4 OR 5 FOR HITS INSTANTLY, NOT AWARE OF THE INTIAL POTENCY. THEN IT ALL KICKS IN ..AND THEY INSTANLY ON SUPER SLANT TAI CHI STEEZ. OR THEY “OVERDOSE”.
ANY ONE DROPPIN LIL COMMENTS OF CRITIQUES ABOUT THIS LP NEED TO STFU RITE NOW . FOR A MINUTE. YALL NEED TO LEARN MODERATION. JUST KICK BACK AND COME BACK IN MONTHS . IF YOU MUST CRITIC. AFTER 5 LISTENS ITS STILL 1 FOR 2012 FOR ME.
1. RELOADED
2. GRIEF PEDIGREE
3. MIC TYSON
lmao stfu. talkin bout crack fiends. it’s a cd you dumbass.
I couldn’t have said that shit any better…
Shit is RAW. Real Hip-Hop right here.
I think this actually might be better than Marcberg. If not better than they are damn near equal….classics
its not better than Dice Game by Guilty Simpson but its better than Good Kid Mad City by Kendrick Lamar
Of course its better than dice game, Simpson sounds mediocre compared to Roc
Roc Marciano is a true renaissance man in an age of passing trends and media glorified fuckery. He sticks to his guns and refuses to conform. Dignified, grown man hip-hop. 5* yall.
this craps all over kendrick’s album
3.9/5
dope as fuck
roc marciano
its cool…
Album of the Year! on another note…I wanna hear a Roc Marciano/Madlib Album….
That could either go horribly wrong or it could end up being the best hip hop release in the last decade.
MADD dope
Marcberg WAY betta.
Dude always comes with it
Hip hop is alive and well
I love how everyone compares all new records to Good Kid Maad City!!! Yeah the record is amazing, Kendrick dropped a movie/story/album all in one and it’s well produced and he raps his ass off, Roc Marciano has a completely diferent darker take on his album its sick too there honestly hard to compare, his beats are okay and some stand out much more than others but the raps and bars are just crazy, it’s more of a chill intimate listen where K.Dot can be played in many different settings, I mean when I wanna put on a banger I’d rock “Money Trees” when I wanna burn chill out, and just listen to dope rhymes in the background I rock “Pistolier” or “death Parade”……Anyway they’re solid releases this has been a good fall release calendar for HipHop, love this stuff, Oh yeah Action Bronson just dropped Rare Chandeliers for free? Griminess at it’s finest
Absolutely. You can’t compare the two, they are both dope in their own aspects.
IM GOING TO THE DICE GAME PAGE
…meh… This dude is overhyped and redundant. Boring. This has been done for years. Get some new subject matter. Some nice production on this album though. But nothing special about Roc. Decent MC, but he is doing what thousands have done before him.
Exactly, I find nothing at all special about this dude. I went through the whole Reloaded album and I think i found maybe ONE dope thing he said? I mean, this dude kinda sucks actually, and WTF is up wit the beats? fuckin put you to sleep! There’s literally like no drums on 95 percent of the album. The more im talking about it, the more i realize how garbage Marciano is.
Both you guys are pretentious idiots. I’m pretty sure Bizalls is Robin Banks/Daniel Danielson, a Roc Marc troll… NE way,eat a dick both of you!
No i disagree! This record is really a blessing in that money-oriented business. It’s really amazing, how Roc doesn’t give a fuck about anything and anyone, he doesn’t really care about trends and radio-friendly stuff. He just does what he can do best, telling his mafia-hustla scarface stuff over some grimy-ass beats.
Surely, it’s not as good as Marcberg, the beats on here are not as hard-hitting. But where Marci really shines on that one is the lyrics and delivery.
As someone before said, this album is not playable in any occassion, and your girlfriend will certainly hate it. But it’s a nice piece of music, you can listen to while relaxing on the couch, mediating over the stuff he gotta say.
This gets 4 Stars, mainly because of the vivid world of thought.
3 stars
best album of the year.
Best album of the year. Has not left the CD deck since it went in!
mad dope
masterpiece
masterpiece of 2012
This album has to be in the top 5 for the year. I not gonna lie this album put me to sleep the first listen. I took a break from it and listened to it again a couple days later and OH MY GOD. I don’t know if I was in the a certain mood or what because the beats are very moody and same tempo. I’ve listened to Roc on featured songs but never a whole album. He’s lyricism is insane, everything rhymes. I find it astonishing how fresh this album is when there very little content or a story. Roc makes every song sound different even though it has the same content. I was blown away by this album. Lyrical I think this is the best album of the year beside maybe Lupe’s, this should be called a classic too!
Monumental album for 2012, hip hop lives, 5 stars..an intimate journey of the street nigga mentality
Great Album, not sure if he needed Q-Tip… Marcberg flow transcended to this album… #GoldenEra
Classic. The best album of 2012.
@Mack, if making a solid album with dope beats is boring to you, maybe you’ve gone as far as you can go as a hip hop fan…@bizalls, I know for a fact that you also go by Daniel Danielson and Robin Banks, you are secretly a Roc fan who trolls on EVERY one of his videos.
Both of you are dweebs. @bizalls, you are Daniel Danielson/ robin banks, a dickridin’ troll and Marc fan on the low….
Grief Pedigree by Ka & Reloaded were easily the two best albums of 2012 in my opinion. Can’t wait for these two artists upcoming albums.
Reloaded is an amazing album from one of the best rappers in the history of the art form. 5-10 years from now “Reloaded” will be considered a classic hip hop album. The beats are minimalistic but also experimental and quite unique. The overall sound quality of this album is a a lot cleaner than his first album “Marcberg” which sounded rough around the edges and extremely rugged. Reloaded reminds me of a modern take on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… by Raekwon becuase of it’s gangsta and mafioso themes, with extremely innovative production. Reloaded improves on his previous album in every sing way from the more experimental sample based production to his obviously improved abilities as an emcee. The only features on this album from come from Ka & Knowledge The Pirate. The track that both of this men are on is titled “Non Told” which is one of the stand outs, the production is very nostalgic and all emcees spit crazy bars. The only other song with a feature is titled “Nine Spray which was produced by Ray West. The beat has what I think are bongo drum with a dusty guitar sampled throughout. Both emcees spit some of the best bars of their respective careers. There are songs like Peru, Death Parade, We Ill, 20 Guns, Deeper which contain very little drums but then there are “bangers” like Emeralds, 76 and Pistolier to add a change of pace. Incredible album that is delivered perfectly. 5 stars.
classic kk
one of best hiphop album all time
good
classic
This was definitely the best hip hop album of 2012. Reloaded is like a modern Cuban Linx, classic album that deserves to mentioned among the best hip hop albums of all time. Roc Marciano is one of the best emcees to ever grace the mic.
This was another rgreat album that came out in 2012
My dude is a beast and we from the same hood Terrace Ave bka as Little Brooklyn.
Another Undeniable Classic