Biography
INFLUENCED BY MANY. FOLLOWER OF NONE. S t . L a R o k is the product of 80's avant-garde eclecticism, early 90's Hip Hop aesthetic, and new-skool sensibilities. An artist with a keen sense of then, now, and the next. While growing up in Chicago, LaRok realized music was in his blood at an early age. Naturally blessed with an ear for music and the gift of creativity, Saent would always hear his mother singing and listening to music of different genres, from 70's soul to 80's pop rock and contemporary R&B and Hip Hop. Saent was exposed to Hip Hop mainly thru his older brother and cousins. He was fortunate enough to soak all of this in during the late 80's in the "Golden Era" of Hip Hop. They also listened to different kinds of music, especially early House music created by it's Chi-Town pioneers. All of these elements combined contributed to the eclectic taste for music that he would develop, and still has to this day. He took an interest in Hip Hop production just from listening to beats crafted by the greats...Premier...Pete Rock...Dre, etc. in the early 90's. By about age 11 or 12, he figured out the basics of how to make a simple drum pattern, and couldn't wait to get his hands on a machine that would allow him to create one. When the jiggy era started to creep in around '94, Saent began to get turned off by most mainstream Hip Hop. Ironically, that was the same year Hard to Earn by Gangstarr, and The Sun Rises in the East by Jeru the Damaja dropped. Upon hearing the beautiful sample arrangements and dirty drums laced by Premier, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in production. At the age of 14, his mom put him on a plane to visit his big brother in Germany, who was stationed there in the military at the time. During one of their phone conversations Saent expressed his interest in beats, and was told that once he came to visit he would be taken to a friend's house who had a small production setup. His brother kept true to the promise. They sat him down in front of an old Boss Dr. Rhythm drum machine, and within minutes he created a basic, yet impressive drum loop all by himself. They were shocked. The rest is history... By junior high Saent started getting deeper into Hip Hop culture, including graffiti, and by high school was writing rhymes seriously, battling other MC's in the cipher, tagging up the hallways, and gaining respect amongst his peers. Being from the Mid-West, he was inspired and influenced by Hip Hop from all over. He earned his first production credit with the track "Nacro Ordo Seclorum" with the founder of the legendary Chicago-based Nacrobats crew, Pugs Atomz. In 2005, he attended an audio engineering school in Florida where he met Brandon Toledo and Chip Williams, who he would form a partnership with 3 years later in the Miami Beat Wave Productions collective. In May of 2009, they were invited to go against other up-and-coming producers at the One Stop Shop Producers Conference Beat Battle held by G-Unit Records president Sha Money XL. In June '09 they saw the release of the Nintendo DS video game "Miami Law", which contains tracks produced by MBW, and to top off the year they released the highly acclaimed compilation "The Launch", which highlighted the production talents of the crew along with guest appearances from Ras Kass, Rick Ross, ¡MAYDAY!, and the most promising talent the Miami underground has to offer. Next up will be the second installment of The Launch series featuring dead prez, Guilty Simpson, and Skyzoo to name a few. Now, with the release the of Leap Year EP, a collection of tracks summing up his first year of stepping into the forefront, produced entirely by St. LaRok alongside his crew, the future Hip Hop is looking bright...indeed.
