User:Roddiggy

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Roddiggy (born Rodney Jerome Hall on July 13, 1979 in Oakland, California) is an African-American music producer and rap artist. He is precisely known for not cursing in his lyrics, doing the majority of production on his songs, and producing for local underground artists. He also produces for artists outside the rap genre. He currently resides in Merced, California and has some affiliation with Merced's own rap group Paragon Inc. Because of his current work schedule, his anticipated live performances are very limited, but more possible at a basic gathering with friends or family.

Roddiggy was born in Oakland but actually lived and grew up in Richmond. He is the only son of parents Alexander and Paula Hall who were both born in Arkansas (his father is from Tillar and his mother is from Lewisville). His immediate family are no strangers to music. Both his parents have played instruments and still sings Gospel. He also has a half sister named Kimberly Jones that sings as well. So there was natural music in his blood. Roddiggy himself grew up and sang in the choir then shifted to playing the drums. His first interest in rap music was watching Rap City at a relative's house after school. He would also buy tapes of his favorite rap artists at the former T-Wauzi's record store in Richmond. At home he would make up his own songs off the generic sounds from keyboards. He would eventually record his songs through a karaoke machine. Although he lacked a general understanding of music theory around the age of 7, he always had a good ear to memorize popular songs as well as create one.

Roddiggy went through a lot of rap names from his teen to adult years. People in high school called him Rodd Dogg and he stuck with that for a while. At some point, both him and his mom had a talk about that name and agreed that it was somewhat chauvinistic and he felt it was too common so he tossed the name out. Diggy, according to him, became some kind of personal vibe while making music. So he eventually came up with Roddiggy (adding the Rod short for Rodney) and stuck with that name ever since its creation.

Roddiggy's technique to hip-hop is an interesting one. First and foremost, he believes that cursing in rap is unneccesary and that it blocks the creativity of the lyrics. Even if other artists are on his songs, that is his only restriction. When he raps on someone else's song, he will still not use vulgarity and to this day lives up to that belief.

Roddiggy's overall style is geared toward imaginative lyrics that are easy to understand. He tends to lean toward similies and metaphoric-like rhymes. However, he is very skilled at incorporating other poetic elements and english skills in his raps. Sometimes he will add a unique style of humor that shows part of his spontaneity. One example is in a demo rap with Paragon Inc: FE FI FO FUM/this beat has a dope drum/with a crisp hi-hat/that whiny tone I like that/I smell the blood of an English lyricist/you have no idea how complex sometimes this gets.

Generally, his production style is influenced from soul, funk, and jazz. He also uses very abstract samples and sometimes chord and scale theory on synthesizers. He will even add spoken quotes, singing chops, and live instruments. He admitted that he has no real boundaries on experimenting with his music to hip-hop but his goal is to always have an accessible groove to at least satisfy an average listener. He is currently a member and musician at the St. Matthew Baptist Church in the south side of Merced.

Roddiggy is a very patient man; stating that his time will come and he will always have that underground mentality and hunger despite what future critics might say. He is also an avid fan and practitioner of video games, martial arts, and basketball.