Barock S.L.U.M.S. is a fresh and talented aspiring artist who is striving to make an impact with his musical creativity. As a youngster he was always around music. Being the son of a songwriter, he would always be in the mix; whether it was being in the studio, or hearing his mom hum melodies, or writing lyrics in their one bedroom apartment in Newark, N.J.

        That's where it all began. Barock was about eight years old at the time when things weren't going too well financially. Moms was fighting her addictions and battling the everyday trials, tribulations and stresses of being a single parent. His whole world was changed when his mom placed him in the system. Being young and confused, he began to rebel and resist. Discipline and school were not a major part of his structure.

        "My sense of being was the streets. That's all I knew. I grew up in the slums and when I say I seen it all, I've seen it all." Growing up in the hood, everybody was known for something. Whether it was flipping, running fast or drug dealing; he knew deep down inside that his talent was music. "I would always sing. That's what I was known for in the projects. I mean my boys moms wanted me to come over just to sing, so I started doing local talent shows within the community and at the same time I was getting into rap more."

        Outside, Barock began hanging out with the older crowd. One of his people used to always spit rhymes off the top of his head and he was really feeling that. There, he was introduced to the art of freestyling and was really up on it around twelve years old; battling at school, in the lunch room, and anywhere he could draw a crowd and get people to listen. He also started writing rhymes and songs reciting them to his boys or whoever would listen. He also played the trumpet for a while, but his real love was singing and rhyming and writing.

        "I think writing came last because I was so overwhelmed by what singing did as far as captivating a crowd. Being young, I wasn’t able to understand the principles and the formalities on how to write a song...but I still did it anyway just to get my point across."