I Rock the Party: Rocko

10 essential songs from the Atlanta rapper/CEO.

I Rock the Party: Rocko - Rocko was a game changer this year, and you ain't e'en know it. The rapper/A1 Recordings founder facilitated one of music's most heated debates about lyrical censorship by letting a controversial line from Rick Ross slip onto his "U.O.E.N.O." He then made it known on which side of the controversy he stood, when he dropped the verse and released a series of remixes. He'll show us some more of those executive moves as a performer for the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. Meanwhile, click on to check which 10 songs of his are essential for a rap CEO's soundtrack.(photo: John Ricard / BET)

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I Rock the Party: Rocko - Rocko was a game changer this year, and you ain't e'en know it. The rapper/A1 Recordings founder facilitated one of music's most heated debates about lyrical censorship by letting a controversial line from Rick Ross slip onto his "U.O.E.N.O." He then made it known on which side of the controversy he stood, when he dropped the verse and released a series of remixes. He'll show us some more of those executive moves as a performer for the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. Meanwhile, click on to check which 10 songs of his are essential for a rap CEO's soundtrack.(photo: John Ricard / BET)

"U.O.E.N.O." featuring Future and Rick Ross - Rocko's first Billboard Top 50 hit, "U.O.E.N.O." is also the lead single from his sixth mixtape, Gift of Gab 2. Before it became the focus of a heated debate, the heat came from Rocko's smooth but boastful flow over the laid-back Childish Major beat. The concept was so on point that not only were two of today's biggest stars on the original, but also Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz and the TDE crew rotated in for a remix.(Photo:Paras Griffin /Landov)

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"U.O.E.N.O." featuring Future and Rick Ross - Rocko's first Billboard Top 50 hit, "U.O.E.N.O." is also the lead single from his sixth mixtape, Gift of Gab 2. Before it became the focus of a heated debate, the heat came from Rocko's smooth but boastful flow over the laid-back Childish Major beat. The concept was so on point that not only were two of today's biggest stars on the original, but also Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz and the TDE crew rotated in for a remix.(Photo:Paras Griffin /Landov)

106 & Park, 106 Backstage, Rocko

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"Umma Do Me" - Picked up in 2006 for the Def Jam roster, Rocko released his first-ever lead single in the form of this Drumma Boy-produced declaration, "Umma Do Me" from his 2007 debut, Self Made.(photo: BET)

"Numbers" - After leaving Def Jam in search of a better deal, Rocko formed his own A1 Recordings and released Wild Life, a mixtape that received such fan acclaim he made it an album. "Numbers" was one of the stand out songs and it was all about the math, like Z3s and 250s. "Millionaire since I was 20, I coulda quit, but it's just in me/ Tryin' to have a freezer full of cheese like the Blimpie," he raps.(Photo:Paras Griffin /Landov)

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"Numbers" - After leaving Def Jam in search of a better deal, Rocko formed his own A1 Recordings and released Wild Life, a mixtape that received such fan acclaim he made it an album. "Numbers" was one of the stand out songs and it was all about the math, like Z3s and 250s. "Millionaire since I was 20, I coulda quit, but it's just in me/ Tryin' to have a freezer full of cheese like the Blimpie," he raps.(Photo:Paras Griffin /Landov)

"Thugs Need Love Too" featuring Monica - Monica, mother of two of his sons, adds a tender-loving-care melody to Rocko's drawl on this ode to a woman whose love never falters (because "thugs need love too," she sings). He lyrically lays out a story of faith-testing: having children with a man whose own father wasn't around much, having to stand by as he faces trial, and having to face friends of her own who claim he is a "bad dude."(photo: John Ricard / BET)

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"Thugs Need Love Too" featuring Monica - Monica, mother of two of his sons, adds a tender-loving-care melody to Rocko's drawl on this ode to a woman whose love never falters (because "thugs need love too," she sings). He lyrically lays out a story of faith-testing: having children with a man whose own father wasn't around much, having to stand by as he faces trial, and having to face friends of her own who claim he is a "bad dude."(photo: John Ricard / BET)

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Rocko Da Don, @Rocko4Real - Tweet: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAYVON... #RIP"It's been almost two years since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was mercilessly slain in Sanford, Fla., at the hands of "neighborhood watchman" George Zimmerman. Rocko Da Don remembers the impactful teen on what would have been his 19th birthday this past Wednesday (Feb. 5). #gonebutnotforgotten #RIP(Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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"Squares Out Your Circle" featuring Future - One of the toughest things to do in this life is keeping a tight inner-circle. Rocko understands. "I had to cut them n---as off, they ain't mean me no good/ Hate when I'm on TV, love when I was stuck in the hood," he raps. And trust that the decision wasn't for a lack of trying. "I wish I could take everybody with me, but I can't, so I ain't/ But I ain't gonna lie, if I could I do it/ I know different languages, speak a few of them fluent." One of his A1 artists, Future, backs him with the hook.(photo: John Ricard / BET)

Rocko, @Rocko4Real - Tweet: "AT 11:11 EVERY THURSDAY FOR THE NEXT #5 WEEKS IM DROPPING A NEW VERSION OF UOENO"Rocko reveals his PR after the controversy surrounding his "U.O.E.N.O." He's removing Ross's verse and adding a rack of other artists like Wiz Khalifa and A1 signee Future, who appear on the first new version.(Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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"Nacho$" - This DJ Spinz beat is thick like cheddar and Rocko goes for bars and bars of fun with the word play. "Told you we ain't going steady, I'm nacho type/ Babe you looking for a dude, I'm still nacho guy/ Yeah I f---ed her, please say that's nacho wife/ Perpetrating a real n---a, boy that's nacho life."(Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

Doin' Him - One to always rep his city, Rocko was in full effect at the Hip Hop Awards doing what he does best... him. (Photo: Moses Robinson/Getty Images for BET)

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"Just in Case" faturing Rick Ross - Rocko scores a Maybach Music sound with Rick Ross and producer Lex Luger for one of his 2011 mixtapes, Rocko Dinero. It's all about how a bawse lives in the present, but thinks like a futurist.(Photo: Moses Robinson/Getty Images for BET)

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"Lingo" - Trill recognize trill in "Lingo," another Wild Life release and Rocko's invitation to learn to communicate "in different cities, different hoods." The video includes this reminder from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Carl Sandburg: "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work."(photo: courtesy of A1 Recordings)

"Dis Morning" - Rocko flips the melody for Talib Kweli's "Get By" and borrows vocally from the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money" to explain what's on his mind when he wakes up. "For some reason she just be callin my name/ I guess it's all in the game/ 'Cause I always run get her. She's a part of me, man."(Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

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"Dis Morning" - Rocko flips the melody for Talib Kweli's "Get By" and borrows vocally from the O'Jays' "For the Love of Money" to explain what's on his mind when he wakes up. "For some reason she just be callin my name/ I guess it's all in the game/ 'Cause I always run get her. She's a part of me, man."(Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

"Hustle Fo" featuring Lloyd - Also found on his Self Made debut, this is one example of Rocko at his rapping best. He tackles exploring why making money is his favorite thing to do, and recruits the bankable vocals of Lloyd for the hook. "Aye aye, my momma jus went in, my daddy jus got out/ These streets some'else, daddy, see what I'm talkin' 'bout?/ Nobody gave me s--t, I work so hard for e'ry nickle/ That's why I go so hard, I ain't sparing na' a n---a," Rocko spits.(Photo:Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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"Hustle Fo" featuring Lloyd - Also found on his Self Made debut, this is one example of Rocko at his rapping best. He tackles exploring why making money is his favorite thing to do, and recruits the bankable vocals of Lloyd for the hook. "Aye aye, my momma jus went in, my daddy jus got out/ These streets some'else, daddy, see what I'm talkin' 'bout?/ Nobody gave me s--t, I work so hard for e'ry nickle/ That's why I go so hard, I ain't sparing na' a n---a," Rocko spits.(Photo:Scott Gries/Getty Images)