Rocki Ozai Interview - P.O.W. Fest 2025
André: You just released an album in May called “EMERALDS” how’d you come up with the title and how was the experience like creating this album? Any personal favorites?
Rocki: Emeralds started as a “forced” idea! I was applying for a NYC artist grant shortly after finishing my first album, “The Black Swan,” and they wanted artists to pitch an entirely new idea to receive funding. I was working on a single titled “Emeralds” that I didn’t even end up using because it had a Disney sample in the production and Disney got the beat taken off of YouTube, but I decided to keep the title for my project and use the idea from that single to shape this whole project! It is now the second album in a trilogy I am doing based on colors. This project took me longer than anything I have ever worked on in my life, which was a bit draining yet insightful. It took me two years to realize that I just needed to trust myself and my vision, as well as knowing when to reach out for help on things outside of my control. I leaned on my community a lot to bring this album to fruition, and I am grateful for the journey and the outcome. My favorite song right now is definitely “ELECTRIC FEEL”. It is such a banger, and it is everything I’ve ever dreamed of making.
André: You released “ELECTRIC FEEL” December 2024. It’s also in your new album. Such a banger! What is this song about? And tell us what was going in the studio when you were making this song.
Rocki: Gosh. This song is a HIT. This song is the magnum opus of the project for me, and it’s talking about the grim side of hustle culture and the party lifestyle that Emerald (the character of the album) is living. I was very inspired by the bands Foster the People, MGMT, and Empire of the Sun when I made this song. It is an MGMT type beat I found and clearly named after their song Electric Feel! The song is about that feeling you get when you are in a party environment that you don’t want to be in and you realize you are way too drunk and there is way too much going on and you don’t really know anyone and you gotta get the hell out of there QUICK! Those bands I mentioned always have songs that sound super energetic and happy but when you read the lyrics closely, they are talking about wicked shit like alcoholism or the grimness of adulthood. I like playing with that juxtaposition of things sounding sweet but being kinda scary. Especially the part where I’m just repeating, “Look at all the girls and the boys in the club”, it sounds like a party chant to get the people going, but really, that is just me being super overwhelmed by all of the unfamiliar faces around me. I guess the Electric Feel is just anxiety LOL. But yeah, I wrote this song on the 5 train on the way to my friend's house, and it all just clicked suddenly. This was the only song ever in my life that I recorded in one session without having to go back and fix anything. The session was 3 hours, and funny enough I was with my usual engineer (his name is Jesus), and there was an intern who sat in on our session just to learn how to mix, but he was vibing with the song hard, which was a great sign to me. Especially seeing people outside of what I would consider my demographic enjoying the song. It showed me that the song was undeniably good and bigger than just me.
André: You’re performing at P.O.W. Fest on Sunday, August 17. What can the fans expect at a Rocki show? Any surprise guests, maybe unreleased songs or crazy stage productions?
Rocki: Well, I have my setlist ready and I do have some plans but overall I have no clue how this performance is going to look! All I know is that it’s going to be epic and i’m gonna put on a show! There is a specific part of the performance that I am looking forward to where I have a dance solo and there may or may not be a new song i’m performing…
André: What’s next for Rocki? More music on the way? New visuals? Upcoming shows?
Rocki: I am shooting a video for “ELECTRIC FEEL” the end of August and it is going to be ICONIC!! I also have one more music video idea that I will be shooting this month and a majority of the songs on my next album are already written! I’m gonna be rolling those out in the winter and I am so excited to build out an entirely new world for everyone. This next album feels very reminiscent of House of Balloons by The Weeknd. Something about it feels icy and chilling and a bit haunting but in a really beautiful shimmery way. I am so excited for everyone to hear it.
André: Lastly, if I was to watch a movie with no sound and I play your new album “EMERALDS” or your music in general in the background, what would be the best movie to pair it with?
Rocki: This album was actually inspired by soooo many different television shows and movies as most of my work is, so this is a fun and great question! I actually had a private listening party for my great friend Regal who was traveling around a bit so she wouldn’t be able to make it to my official listening party. But we sat in my room and I played the album for her out loud on my sound system and we watched Howl’s Moving Castle in silence in the background. It ended up being a perfect movie to watch given the circumstances and I have a song on the album called “Howl’s Moving Castle” so it was only right!
For more information about Pan Afro Wisdom Festival August 17, 2025 and to RSVP visit the link below.
https://www.divinetimescollective.com/pow-fest-25
interview by andré