Roc Marciano releases his new mixtape 'The Pimpire Strikes Back'. With features from Willie The Kid, Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren & Knowledge The Pirate.

The Sacrifice (prod. Doesn't Last (prod. Roc Marciano) • 4.

Slingers feat. Knowledge the Pirate • 5. Roc Marciano) • 6. Take Me Over (prod Evidence) • 7. Higher Learning (prod. Roc Marciano) • 8.

Sincerely Antique feat. Action Bronson / Willy the Kid (prod. Alchemist) • 9. Ice Cream Man (prod. Roc Marciano) • 10. Ten Toes Down feat.

Knowledge The Pirate (prod. The Alchemist) • 12. Velvet Cape feat. Action Bronson / Mayhem Lauren (prod. Roc Marciano) • 13.

Shower Posse feat. Knowledge The Pirate (prod. Arch Druids) • 14. German V's (prod. Roc Marciano) • 15. Bruh Man (prod.

Lord Finesse) • 16. Ruff Town feat. Cormega (prod. Roc Marciano).

Long Island emcee Roc Marciano has been lucky enough to work through three separate phases of his rap career, two more than most other artists ever receive. His current incarnation, that of a solo artist, resulted from his Fat Beats debut release,, earlier in 2010, which was met with immediate critical acclaim from bloggers who were enamored with his attempt to bring New York crime stories and simple street beats (provided by Marcy himself) to the forefront. Was also held in high esteem by his peers: big names such as Q-Tip, Large Professor, and Just Blaze pledged their support to Marcy for a follow-up, entitled Marcberg Reloaded, to be released at a later date.

Tipovoj proekt polikliniki. (Depending on who you ask, Marcberg Reloaded is either an all-new project or a reissue of with higher production values: I'm thinking that it will be a combination of both. Or possibly neither: I don't put it past any artist to fuck with their audience by releasing a death metal tribute to polka.). Critical acclaim is great and all, but Roc Marcy had to come from somewhere. Way back in the early part of the millennium, he could be found in the lineup of Busta Rhymes's crew, the Flipmode Squad, even turning in a credible guest turn alongside the likes of Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Trevor himself on the Large Professor-produced 'The Heist' (from Anarchy). However, this association was short-lived: as with every other artist in the Squad, Busta apparently became jealous of the man's skill behind the mic and quickly dropped him from the act. Or something.

Trevor's reasons for shutting down the Flipmode Squad are his own, but you would hope that he at least put some money into the respective 401ks for his employees. Anyway, Marcy quickly bounced back as a member of the rap quartet The UN, which also consisted of Dino Brave, Mike Raw, and Laku. The crew was named after their stomping grounds in Uniondale (which also birthed the Leaders Of The New School, which helps explain the Busta Rhymes connection). The crew made their debut in a fairly prominent place: on the first pressing of Pete Rock's Petestrumentals, they were the only guest artists to make an appearance, which is an astonishing feat, considering that project was mostly instrumental in nature.

(Future pressings of Petestrumentals worked in more cameos from other rappers, but The UN retained their spot.) This led to their crew album, UN Or U Out, released by World Records in 2004 to critical acclaim (a constant in Marcy's career, apparently) and poor distribution: it quickly went out of print. It may be worth the effort to track it down, though, as it boasts production credits from Roc Marcy himself, along with The Alchemist, DC-based underground favorite Oddissee, Mike Raw, Large Professor, and, of course, their mentor, Pete Rock. Fat Beats tested the water earlier this year by releasing the Marcberg EP, which boasted five tracks (and their instrumentals) from what would eventually be simply called. After six years away from the game, the EP helped introduce the man to newer hip hop heads who weren't necessarily familiar with the crime tales of the mid-1990s. Thanks to the nearly-universal acclaim, Roc Marciano, a guy who never really retired from rap in the first place (it's more like he faded away for a short time), is poised to become the comeback kid of 2010, which isn't a bad look for a guy who already burned through two separate incarnations of his career. The first song on adopts an instrumental tone that is vaguely early RZA-esque, with its soulful sample looped into infinity and beyond, growing more and more annoying with each cycle.