• R.O.K, an acronym for Rhyme Over Krime, uses hip-hop to promote education to at-risk youth.
• A native of East LA, the 33-year-old artist turned to music to stay away from neighborhood trouble.
• P.A.C.E., or Promoting Academics through Creative Expression, is a program designed to multi-media music performances as a way to inspire students to use creativity and pursue academic excellence.

Stand for something or fall for anything. That message lies at the core of everything R.O.K believes. It represents the foundation upon which he is building his entertainment career. Having performed with more than 100 of hip-hop’s hottest artists, including Snoop Dogg, Pitbull, Jaime Foxx, Akon and Ludacris, R.O.K is poised on the verge of stardom.

But the emerging hip-hop artist and Hollywood actor, who also plays host to his own reality show “R.O.K – T.V,” is after more than just stardom. R.O.K. wants to “do something more with a message.” That mission is evident even in his name. R.O.K is an acronym for Rhyme Over Krime:

“It’s a lifestyle,” R.O.K explained. “I try to kind of lead by example where I say, ‘Look man, instead of selling drugs or pushing negativity, we’re selling music and what we’re pushing is basically like an anthem.”

While his ambition is to create an ‘anthem’ that resonates with a global audience, R.O.K specifically targets at-risk youth through his involvement with the P.A.C.E. program. P.A.C.E., or Promoting Academics through Creative Expression, is a program designed to use music as a vehicle for encouraging higher academic achievement and improved classroom participation from students. The program uses multi-media music performances as a way to inspire students to become involved in creative projects and instill personal perseverance in education.

“The whole concept is about telling the kids, ‘The more you learn, the more you earn,’” R.O.K said. “We’ll tell them how if you graduate high school you’re more likely to go to college and end up in a better career… Not on unemployment. But, if you drop out, you’re more likely to… be on unemployment or welfare or even in jail. Then, we inspire them with a little bit of music and entertainment.”

As R.O.K establishes his name within the entertainment industry, he wants this message to become synonymous with what he represents as an artist. R.O.K is committed to using his momentum to reach out to others with a similar background. A native of East LA, the 33-year-old artist knows first-hand what it means to grow up in a “rough” neighborhood rife with “gang banging.” In an attempt to be “cool” with local gangs, yet stay out of more serious trouble, R.O.K said he first turned to tagging as a creative outlet.

“People were trying to fit in,” R.O.K recalled. “Either you were gang banging or you were tagging…We used to do murals. I’ve always had like an artistic expression. I think I was just trying to find a medium… Once it got to the point where people started making the wrong choices, going into gangs and even started getting killed, I started chilling on that whole environment of graffiti.”

Music ultimately became the creative outlet R.O.K says he was searching for in his youth.

“Finally, when I got into the music, that’s where I finally started to connect the dots and see how there’s an alternative to be able to express yourself without doing it in a negative fashion,” R.O.K explained. “Without having to break the law. Without having to deface property. So music became a real form of expression for me that allowed me to talk a little about my past, talk a little bit about my ambitions for the future, but also a way to talk to other people that might be in the same scenario. Let them know: ‘Look. I used to gang bang. I used to sell drugs. I got out of that lifestyle. Now, I’m in the entertainment business. So I kind of want to lead by example.”

Call it music. Call it an anthem. Call it a movement. Ultimately, R.O.K. says the plan his simple:

“The R.O.K. movement is about giving back – not only to our local communities but to the international community… Easier said than done, but I figure if you have positive ambitions, you’re bound to get something right…you can’t get more worthwhile than giving back to people.”