Often described as what Hip-Hop would be, when it grows up, AbRock has been steadily rocking crowds in the MD/DC Mid Atlantic region for the last 5 years. A product of the late 90s Baltimore Hip hop scene, the Nigerian emcee burst into the spotlight with his 2003 debut album Declaration of Independence. A well balanced lyricist, AbRock has competed in various local and national showcases such as The Source Unsigned Hype and Blaze1 Battle. He also recently won the StyleWarz Battle and took 2nd Place in the Okayplayers Foreign Exchange Remix competition couple months later. Having earned a reputation among his peers and fans as a strong performer with the ability to rock crowds, Ab has shared stages with independent and national heavyweights such as Fertile Ground, 5thL, Poemcees, Akrobatic, Zion I, Black Sheep, Sadat X, and others. Influenced musically by hip hop contemporaries Jay-Z, Pharaoh Monch , Talib Kweli, Common, Nas etc. AbRock developed the perfect balance between battle and creative emcee. His in-depth understanding of songwriting allows for songs with strong hooks, attention grabbing lyrics, an topics often ranging from social commentary, introspective self reflections, all the way to feel good party anthems. A firm believer of music as a soundtrack to life, AbRock just released his sophomore album aptly named the mid MidLife Crisis. The idea that music is the pulse that keeps life alive is the approach that AbRock has taken to his sophomore album entitled, The mid Mid-Life Crisis. While he has far from abandoned the battle rapping and skill showcasing persona that dominated the first album, Declaration of Independence, AbRock has decided to travel a different route with his art on this one. “With The Mid MidLife Crisis I made a conscious decision to be more personal,” the 29 year old emcee declares. A lot of the mainstream hip-hop that blares through our radios today is lacking a message. It’s the void of truth and honesty that its audience needs to keep on pushing. Fueled by the emancipation that truth offers, AbRock has decided to put the life of Abdul Adedeji, the husband, the father, the son under a lyrical microscope not only to document his personal growth, but to bring some of the realness back to hip-hop. The Mid MidLife Crisis takes a closer look at young adulthood. Society marks the age of 50 to be a major turning point in life, but age 25 according to AbRock, is a dynamic transition as well. AbRock labels it as the “quarter life” crisis, the point where, “You’re a couple years out of school, you’ve started a family and you’re not where you think you’re supposed to be,” he says of his lyrical content, “But that’s life and I wanted to capture that.” The album reflects issues that AbRock feels hip-hop no longer “speaks to”, such as his experience with job loss, raising a family, maintaining a marital relationship, his opinions on the war in Iraq, and his fears and insecurities. These issues aren’t just unique to AbRock, there unanimous among most of the young adult demographic, but they’re not talked about. AbRock is certain that this is an album that people will be able to genuinely enjoy while still remaining true to hip-hop in its true essence of banging beats and truth on wax. The Mid MidLife Crisis is another step closer to bringing the average 25-30 year old street dreamer to feeling apart of the music they’re listening to.”