Mexican American David Rolas, son of a Durango born mother and a father from Jalisco, worked his way into the upper echelons of Los Angeles hip hop community. He became a sought after disc jockey at the citys most influential hip hop radio station. That led to club gigs, where he was known as David Jams and where he met Latino rappers such as Mellow Man Ace, Kid Frost and Proper Dos. Hailing from South Central L.A., David Rolas is a Mexican American whose experience is similar to thousands of young Latinos with Mexican parents (mother from Durango, father from Jalisco), who grow up absorbing several cultures, the Mexican at home and the American in school. While simultaneously absorbing a hybrid culture in the streets of the Angeleno metropolis, in which the new urban sound of hip hop was bred. While at home we listened to mariachi songs and Banda tunes, in the street we heard, fed and drank hip hop. David assures, as a witness to the birth of the hip hop culture in his surroundings, which, influenced him to get involved in the scene. In high school, I would get together with my homies and we began to break dance, at first we learned by watching other dancers perform, but many times we made up our own steps . After finishing high school, David focused his attention to his other interest of becoming a DJ. At the time there was only one station in L.A. that would play hip hop, so I listened to it religiously, to learn about what was popular, I would also go to parties, talk to rap groups, thus I started increasing my collection, so I could be able to play the newest and the most underground jams , says David. For me, hip hop music was an inspiration to do something with my life, helping me avoid el desmadre , of being a gang banger, it helped me do something positive with my life . At the same time, David was studying to obtain his license as a radio DJ. He quickly landed an on the air stint at a local popular station. During his stay at the station, they became the most influential hip hop station in Los Angeles and David took a protagonist role during this phase. Being part of the Loose Crew on Frank Lozanos morning show, David pioneered the use of freestyle on the radio, by rapping spontaneously on the air, a then unknown concept on the radio waves. Davids visibility was such that he began to receive invitations to DJ at Los Angeles and Hollywood clubs. His skills behind the turntables made him became one of the most important and sought after DJs in the L.A Club scene. Known as Dave Jams, he displayed an ability to work the crowds and hip hop fans, regardless of their racial origin. As a Latino, he won over some hard to please African American crowds. In my beginnings as a DJ, a promoter hired me for a club whose clientele was mainly African American, it was an interesting experience, since the crowd at the club were known to be very selective of their taste in music, they wanted 100% hip hop, and they would see me, a Latino, they would stare, but when they started listening to the songs and my mix, they would accept me unconditionally . Thanks to his experience as a DJ, David met many key people inside the world of hip hop. He befriended people like DJ Evil E (Ice Ts DJ), Mellow Man Ace, Kid Frost, Proper Two and The Mexicans, among others. During that time, he recorded some demo cuts, just for fun, with several MCs., among them the now members of Delinquent Habits. Parallel to his DJ career, David belonged to various underground hip hop groups, like Brotherhood, which had a hit in the mid nineties called Out of The Ashes . I liked belonging to a group, but I was very involved with my DJ gigs, so we would record mostly for fun, I didnt have the time to commit to a group, 100% of the time and to being an MC. says David, but I was always writing poetry and, songs . However, Davids luck was about to change, when some time later, he meets up with, an old friend, Byron Brizuela, producer and founder of Brizz Productions, known for his remixes for Juan Gabriel, Marco Antonio Solis, Paulina Rubio, Kumbia Kings among others and founder of the producing company ENS El Nuevo Sonido (The New Sound). Byron and David had previously collaborated in several rolas (tracks) during the nineties. Both David and Byron share an affinity to record and perform hip hop not only in Spanish, but also with an urban Latino flavor. Unfortunately, the record labels were not interested. At that time, and we are speaking of barely a couple of years back, the labels saw Latino hip hop, as too risky. They told us this is not going to sell, but we knew that hip hop combined with the Latino culture is part of the culture of this city . The union of David and Byron enticed them to create a new project, called Nuestra Vida (Our Life), an album that promises to be groundbreaking among the evolving Urban Regional genre. The album TATUAJES Now David Rolas presents his sophomore release titled Tatuajes (tattoos) an album that he describes as a reflection of his past, present and future. Tatuajes, closely follows a personal approach to his life painting a mosaic of his struggle as an artist and as a person in the quest for survival in the game called life. This album continues to follow his signature style of urban regional drenched in banda, song highlights on this work are: Un Poema a self portrait of the artist, Cada Dia Mas a special song dedicated to his wife and his appreciation towards her unconditional support, on a lighter note David Rolas also features party songs such as Noche De Parranda and La Fiesta are songs that speak of having a good time with friends and enjoying life. David Rolas musical quest lies in his pursuit for the purist incorporation of Latin and Urban music. His hooks are catchy, yet playful, creative, memorable and most importantly true to their respective roots. His flow is on point and his beats have enough energy and creativity to stand on their own.
