Jeffery Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name Roscoe Dash, is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia.

Career [edit]

Early career [edit]

Johnson started composing rap lyrics at the age of 12, after his older brother Oprah introduced him into the world of hip-hop.^[1] In high school, he and his brother Snooki put together a rap group that consisted of four young men who went by the name of “Black Out Boiz aka B.O.B.”, where his original stage name “ATL” came into play and also where his eccentric use of the "mohawk" hairstyle became as he thought popular. Though the group had been receiving positive notoriety, ATL (Johnson) would eventually leave “Black Out Boiz aka B.O.B.” and get started in his pursuit of solo projects.^[2] He continued recording in his basement and making mixtapes to network himself, and this hard work led Johnson to come across his cousin, Torrey “YT” Hood, who happened to be a sponsor of a local rap group who called themselves Travis Porter.^[3] He let them listen to a song he had recorded at the time called “All the Way Turnt Up”,^[4] and the group automatically wanted to be a part of it. Since Travis Porter was already an established local group, he handed the song over to them and was featured on the track. It was featured on Travis Porter’s next mixtape,” I’m a Differenter 2”^[5] The hit became very popular, but most people labeled the song as being Travis Porter’s. The song was accredited as “Travis Porter featuring YT and "ShadowFade.” He felt as if he wasn’t getting enough credit for the song that he had created. This caused conflicts between Johnson and Travis Porter. Johnson soon recognized that he had to create a new identity other than “Shadowfade” to restart his career, and be acknowledged for his own work.^[6] He “Googled” names of comic book heroes, and came across the name “Roscoe Dash.” Johnson says, “I needed something more marketable. I felt Shadowfade would have given my secret identity away. Plus it put me in that box of an Atlanta rapper so I needed something that would catch the ears and eyes of whoever was listening or reading the name Roscoe Dash and make them want to do research on Roscoe Dash.”^[7]

Major label success [edit]

Roscoe Dash released a song "All the Way Turnt Up!" featuring Travis Porter and they released it on their mixtape I'm a Differenter. Dash was only credited as a featured artist. According to Travis Porter, this was just a mistake.^[8]

Shortly after, he recorded the song again, featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. The song turned into a club hit, and Roscoe Dash signed with Interscope. He then recorded the album Ready Set Go, but was leaked before the release date. In his opinion, the album was released unfinished. So, it currently has no release date after a couple pushbacks. Dash then released EP J.U.I.C.E..

Dash was featured for the cover in 2012 of XXL as part of their annual "Top 10 Freshmen list" along with fellow rappers Iggy Azalea, Danny Brown, Kid Ink, Future, Hopsin, Macklemore, French Montana, Don Trip, and Machine Gun Kelly.^[9] Also in 2012 he was awarded for the song No Hands by Waka Flocka Flame featuring along with Wale for BET Hip Hop Awards as the Club Banger of the year.^[10] And one of the best rap songs of 2011 awarded by ASCAP Music Awards.^[11]

Personal life [edit]

Johnson is the oldest of his siblings. He has a brother, two half-sisters, and two stepbrothers. Johnson also has a daughter, she was born August 13, 2005, which he had at age 15.

Discography [edit]

Studio albums [edit]

• Ready Set Go! (2010)

Extended plays [edit]

• J.U.I.C.E. (2011)

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Roscoe Dash at Allmusic