Rockford Josphat (born July 7, 1985), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s Roki or Rocqui, is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an contemporary musician, who has also tapped into acting. Born in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and raised in ParkTown Waterfalls

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...

, Roki made his debut in 2001 after releasing hits such as "Seiko" which featured

Leonard Mapfumo Leonard Mapfumo (born January 30, 1983) is an urban grooves/hip-hop artist from Harare, Zimbabwe. Active on the national hip-hop scene since 2000, he has gained recognition as one of the fathers of Zimbabwean urban sounds, with four number one ...

and Suzanna. Proud holder of the "most Promising Artist for 2003" through the prestigious National Arts Merit Awards of Zimbabwe(NAMA), Roki has made a name for himself as a gifted songwriter and exceptional performer. His album which carried the undying hit "Chidzoka" won best video of the year and song of the year in 2007. In 2012, Roki participated in the

Big Brother Africa 7 ''Big Brother Africa 7'' (also known as ''Big Brother Africa: StarGame!'') was the seventh season of the ''Big Brother Africa'' reality television series produced by Endemol for M-Net. It began on 6 May 2012, and ran for 91 days ending on 5 Augus ...

show, he was tipped to win, but was disqualified after an altercation with fellow Zimbabwean house mate Maneta. Despite this, Roki rose to national and regional fame. The urban grooves star has apparently fathered at least five children with different women, he dropped out of school at about age 15. Roki's songs centre on the themes of love, death, life and the clash of Western and African culture.

Style and influences

His music style includes Urban Groove, Soca,

Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

Afro-pop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of p ...

and

House music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

. In 1996, while on a bus singing with friends, Roki was heard by a local musician who invited him to provide backing vocals on the musician's song. Some of his songs include Chidzoka, Ndokuda Gugu, Jordan, Zion, Ndoda, Mumwe, Suzanna and Nhliziyo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockford, Josphat 1982 births People from Harare Zimbabwean musicians Living people