Rogue

MyGen Profile Generator Written for B-MORE VIBE MAGAZINE and Rogue by Latisha Harris, freelance writer for SOHH.com
From out the City That Reads, there is a woman who writes. Rogue began her journey writing ballads at age twelve, convinced singing was her forte. At the start of her love affair with music, she wrote mostly about her experiences as a child as a ward of the state, being locked up as a juvenile for reasons she could not understand, bad DSS workers and RTC staff, bad foster parents, being forcefully overmedicated for years, her experiences with boys, and of other young children she was friends with who had killed themselves while in DSS. While all this might seem depressing to most, these things were the norm for a young Rogue and is how she lived her life until age 16. She released her negative energy to avoid “kirking out” by writing heavily. She practiced singing in her school’s choir and with her foster brothers and sisters at New Hope Baptist Church.
By fifteen, it was clear her writings were no longer ballads; it was too fast, was compound rhymed, and too heavily influenced by rap artists that were popular at the time. Back when Cam’ron had his first CD and 504 Boyz were hot. After being mentored by a foster brother who made club CDs in their mom’s basement, she jumped at the chance to spin a set of cheap NuMarks at every cookout or get together her grouphome Devereux threw for the girls and boys’ homes, and didn’t care when people complained because she played something they didn’t want played. Around 2001 she began making regular trips by bus to the local Charm City Sounds to buy popular singles on wax to spin at these parties, but eventually traded in the turntables for a beatbox and that for a mic and a mixer. She got made fun of and clowned on, but most of that subsided as she became older and distanced herself from haters.
Late 2001 her and the same brother got tired of being turned down by publications for coverage for his and their friends shows, and started their own free mini-magazine detailing the happenings in the then very small Baltimore Hip Hop scene tactlessly named “B-More Vibe”. Rogue explains, “as kids… I guess we couldn’t think of anything better.” It was a quarter-page publication that was typed on a library computer, Xeroxed, folded into fourths and stapled. It was unofficial, but it was theirs. They passed it out for free at local clubs and events, and left a stack everywhere they went. It detailed such artists as Third Kind, Raw Dialect, Relentlezz Dre, and Ogun – the last artist is the only one still making rounds in the local circuit to this day. The homemade mag lasted about six months before Rogue was replaced into her biological mother’s care for a short time and then quickly into a different foster home in Edgewood, Md. The reasons for this sudden relocation are still confusing, but common in Baltimore’s Social Services. The magazine and website did not continue.
The Harris’ took care of Rogue from then on, showing her a life she did not know existed outside of TV. A normal family, having dinner together, rules, allowance, dating – a normal teenage life. Rogue began to change, and grow. “I would still be one fucked up person if it wasn’t for the Harris’… I was so guarded, I cussed at everyone, thought people were out to get me. Because in the system, they really are! Girls fight for nothin’. Everybodys bitch this, hoe and heffer that. I was terrible when I came to her… I remember one day I couldn’t find something in my room so I flipped the dresser over cause I was mad. She threatened to get rid of me, but she didn’t mean it. She stuck it out for me and worked with me and after a while I was alright.” Rogue stresses that good foster families are needed in Baltimore. “Most of them are abusive… they go into it thinking there’s money to be made, but then they learn the cost of living for the child is more than what DSS is giving them, so they deprive us of basics like food, clothes, showers and shit in order to retain some of that check. Its fucked.” She considers herself extremely lucky to have been placed with the Harris’, even if she was almost grown when it happened. “I am not shy about my past; I used to be, but now I want to share it and maybe inspire young people going through it now with my music. Music saved me… it can save others too.” She says.
It was during this 2 year placement that Rogue experimented with beatmaking. After a while, though, she lost interest in it. She explains, “I use to love it… now, even if I get a new kit, I just cant get excited about it. But people loved my beats… enough to buy them, anyways.”
Rogue excelled in highschool and earned herself a 3.8 GPA. She won many awards for her drawings and paintings, as her art teacher would enter her into contests every year. Her work for MARFY even got onto the cover of TIME magazine.
In 2003, Rogue graduated early from highschool and began working full time jobs. In 2004, she was offered an opportunity to live in a youth program designed to get young adults coming out of DSS some independency by sharing an apartment and learning how to pay bills. During this time she lived in Baltimore County. However she stayed in the program only 9 months before she was expelled for attending her boyfriend’s court date against staff orders. Although being kicked out of the program was a great loss at the time, it was the first time since age 7 Rogue had been a free person, not belonging to the state of Maryland. She was finally liberated.
In late 2006, Rogue decided it was time to bring back the magazine. She chose not to rename it in honor of her and her brother’s dream. Instead, she ignored those who had an opinion on the controversial name. Inspired by the now burgeoning Baltimore scene, she launched the first issue in February 2007. It was immediately a hit, being the only publication in Baltimore strictly for the hip hop group. It was official, a full-color printed magazine with a full staff. For nearly a year, Rogue had 25+ employees working for B-MORE VIBE. She chose to sell advertising space for discounted prices – starting at just thirty dollars. She sold the magazine for only five dollars, even though it cost her seven dollars per unit to print. However despite her best efforts, support dwindled and she became more and more in financial debt. Additionally, into the 2nd issue she became pregnant and could not keep up with the late night rendezvous demanded when covering the ever growing Baltimore Hip Hop scene and all its parties. Because of this, some artists who never supported the magazine in the past suddenly had negative things to say about it not covering their party personally. In a city that lacks community support and outlets for its artists, it is a real shame that when an outlet is established it is quickly extinguished in this way. Recently, in early 2008 it was announced that the force that was B-MORE VIBE is, once again, no more. This shortly after one of the most successful and well organized parties Baltimore had seen in a while, celebrating the release of the first and last mixtape under the B-MORE VIBE name. Hundreds of people attended the party, and it was televised, with the B-MORE VIBE photographers shooting away at the long list of performers – including Rogue herself, then 7 months pregnant and winded but energetic. (Video to the left!)
Though she has dropped the thing that made her popular, Rogue established a network of associates and friends she can look to in the future; a web of producers, emcees, radio and party hosts, promoters, and Djs. Though many others locally seem to either have a strong opinion about her, or not know her at all, the future looks bright for this 21 year old emcee. She has been written about three times in the Baltimore Citypaper, been on TV, on the radio, and on various hip hop DVDs.
Since she has given birth to a beautiful boy named Solomon Eli; she plans to release a mixtape sometime in 2009.
“It was always my dream to create my own brand of music, like Missy and TLC did… kind of mixing R&B, pop and hip hop. Maybe even a little bit of rock. Something that they don’t know where to put, but it’s hot! I’m a fool for music. I want to take my time and make a successful piece of work that everyone can enjoy, and says a lot about me. I’m not hard… Im not a sexpot, or a tomboy, you can’t put me in any of those categories. I’m Rogue. And I’ll put that to music.”
Special Thanks to Latisha Harris, writer, SOHH.com.
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