Rocco Valdes, known professionally as Rocco Did It Again!, is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, and music executive from
Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...
. Valdes co-founded the record label Chase Records (or Chase Entertainment) in 2004, which has been credited with signing American singers
T-Pain
Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...
and
Austin Mahone
Austin Harris Mahone (;) is an American singer. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, he gained initial recognition performing covers of pop songs on YouTube.
He was discovered by record producers Rocco Did It Again! and Mike Blumstein in 20 ...
prior to their mainstream breakthroughs; Valdes remained the former's manager after his departure in favor of a
major label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...
, while the latter's record deal—first signed in 2012—led to a joint venture with
Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...
and
Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Birdman (rapper), Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans– ...
the following year. By 2018, he served as
talent manager
A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...
for fellow Floridian, rapper
9lokkNine
Jacquavius Dennard Smith (born May 1, 2000), known professionally as 9lokkNine (, formerly typeset as GlokkNine), is an American rapper from Orlando, Florida. He is best known for his guest appearance on YNW Melly's 2019 single " 223's", which p ...
prior to his December 2021 incarceration.
Early life
Rocco was born in
Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...
, where he attended
Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School. After High School, Valdes developed an interest in music and decided to attend
Full Sail University
Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...
in
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winter Park was foun ...
. Initially, Valdes wanted to be a music engineer, but decided to he was more intrigued by the business side of music, only to find himself back on the technical side of music later in his career.
Career
Valdes began his career in 2002 at
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The l ...
, where he worked as an
A&R assistant for two years. In 2004, Valdes discovered American singer
T-Pain
Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...
and managed his career in a joint venture with
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
for ten years. In 2012, Valdes signed pop singer
Austin Mahone
Austin Harris Mahone (;) is an American singer. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, he gained initial recognition performing covers of pop songs on YouTube.
He was discovered by record producers Rocco Did It Again! and Mike Blumstein in 20 ...
to his first recording contract in a joint venture with
Universal Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially a ...
, and later
Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Birdman (rapper), Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans– ...
the following year. In 2018, he became the manager of
Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
-based rapper
9lokkNine
Jacquavius Dennard Smith (born May 1, 2000), known professionally as 9lokkNine (, formerly typeset as GlokkNine), is an American rapper from Orlando, Florida. He is best known for his guest appearance on YNW Melly's 2019 single " 223's", which p ...
. He produced his song "
223's
"223's" is a song by American rapper YNW Melly featuring fellow American rapper 9lokkNine, released as the lead single from the former's debut studio album '' Melly vs. Melvin'' on August 9, 2019. Written by the artists alongside Rocco Did It A ...
" (featuring
YNW Melly
Jamell Maurice Demons (born May 1, 1999), known professionally by his stage name YNW Melly (initialism for Young Nigga World Melly), is an American rapper and singer. He rose to fame in 2018 following the release of his single "Murder on My Mi ...
), which was released commercially the following year as Melly's single; where it then reached at number 34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. That same year, Valdes shifted focus onto further work in production and songwriting.
In the following years, he has been credited on the singles "
Jump
JuMP is an algebraic modeling language and a collection of supporting packages for mathematical optimization embedded in the Julia programming language.
JuMP is used by companies, government agencies, academic institutions, software projects ...
" by
DaBaby
Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (born December 22, 1991), known professionally as DaBaby (formerly Baby Jesus), is an American rapper. After releasing several mixtapes between 2014 and 2018, he signed with Interscope Records in January 2019 in a joint ...
, "
Tick Tock" by
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...
, "
Alone" by
Kim Petras
Kim Petras (, ; born 27 August 1992) is a German singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Between 2016 and 2020, she released music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records, before signing with Amigo and Republic Reco ...
and
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...
, and "
Blick Blick
"Blick Blick" is a song by American rapper Coi Leray and Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj. It was released through Republic Records and 1801 on March 18, 2022 as the fifth and last single of Leray's debut studio album '' Trendsetter''. The song was ...
" by
Coi Leray
Coi Leray Collins (born May 11, 1997) is an American rapper and singer. The daughter of rapper and media executive Benzino, she began her musical career in 2018 with the release of her debut mixtape, ''Everythingcoz''. She signed with Republic ...
. He produced and co-wrote
Saweetie
Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper (born July 2, 1993), known professionally as Saweetie (; also pronounced as simply "sweetie"), is an American rapper and singer. Her 2017 debut single, "Icy Grl", received RIAA certification, double platinum cer ...
's 2021 single "
Best Friend", which became a hit on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, peaked on the
Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to:
* Related to rhythm
* Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor ...
chart, and was nominated for
Best Rap Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rap music genre. Honors in several c ...
at the
64th Annual Grammy Awards
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...
. He has contributed to
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
's 2023 single "
All My Life", which won
Best Melodic Rap Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...
at the
65th Annual Grammy Awards
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year – October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022 – as de ...
.
Charted singles
Discography (producer/composer)
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Living people
1980 births
People from Hialeah, Florida
Record producers from Florida
American hip-hop record producers