Selected as one of 106 KMEL's top 10 Freshman Rapper in the Bay Area 21-year-old San Francisco native Roach Gigz has gone from virtually unknown to one of the hottest artists on the west coast in just four years \r \r Born and raised in San Francisco CA Roach was born in Nicaragua during the Contra and Sandinista war His father was a supporter of the Sandinista Liberation Front, and has never lived in the U.S., but Roach's mother moved to San Francisco and took him as a single mother \r \r Growing up in such a racially diverse city directly affected Roach approach to his art "If people have only heard my music and know my name but have never seen me they are surprised to know that I am not black," said Roach "From my experience growing up race was aldrig a problemJag is only one authentic and cool dude and I think my fans will see that it's not about race It's about music "\r \r Roach Gigz first gained local fame with close friend Lil 4Tay as one half of the group Bitch I Go (BIG) The duo made some noise with Hyphy hit song "I Get It" But with no official album or mixtape to tide fans over, things started to slow down for BIG in 2008 and Roach has decided to focus more on his solo career \r \r It was 2009 years of buckets and calls Booty mixtape that really introduced Roach face and Frisco swagger to the masses The conceptual mixtape was released in September last year and inspired by real was both funny and filled with good music "I got in this big car accident after a show and myscraper was totaled after it, I bought a bucket Ford Tempo for USD100 from my cousin, I drove it for like two months and one night the thought just popped into my head "\r \r The mixtape, which contains several examples of what Roach calls its" late night pussy expeditions "took off the night game in Northern California anthem" My Bitch looks better "The Mixtape so far has been downloaded over 45,000 times \r \r In May 2010, Roach followed Buckets and Booty Call with lyrically superior Roachy Balboa mixtape where B & B was only a small part of his story Balboa both a play on the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa and Roach's own Italian heritage gave a deeper insight into his potential as an artist \r \r "I put all my money to rent this small empty room, and built my own little studioI stayed in that bitch all the time making music and just training to get better Roachy Balboa is just the first preview of it, "said Gigz" I feel like I grow the way someone would if their doing what they love and put their all into the be the best they possibly be I'm not there yet but I'm about "Balboa has already exceeded its predecessor number of listens and downloads in just a fraction of the time \r \r With two successful mixtapes under his belt Roach is currently preparing its debut album, tentatively titled therapy sessions that are scheduled to be released in autumn album promises to be a very personal one Roach says that the music will touch ups and downs in life from the struggles he has gone through growing up in the bayn to the birth of his newborn son \r \r "I have seen the hunger in his eyes since day one," says Mistah FAB "With the right support he can get his chance for a new voice in the modern day Bay Area" With his unconventional style and undeniable charisma it's just a matter of time before the rest of the world feel the same way