As the South continues to reign supreme, Atlanta native Rodney “Rocko” Hill pulls up a chair to sit at the dinner table for a well-deserved plate of recognition. After copywriting every minority’s favorite saying, “Umma Do Me” for his hit single, he follows it up with a solid debut effort in Self-Made.

The album starts off with no intro, as he gets down to business with “Dis Morning.” With a flow and cadences that resemble Young Jeezy, he talks about a day in the life of “Rocko.”

The Inc. (formerly Murder Inc.) proves its still around (somewhat) by allowing Lloyd to be featured on “Hustle Fo.” Over Lloyd’s catchy hook, Rocko drops lines like, “Scared of last place, that’s why I get my hustle on/so my kids ain’t gotta hustle (they got trust funds).”

If someone were to take an educated guess, they’d say Atlanta-based producer Drumma Boy surpassed his yearly production quota ahead of schedule by producing 8 out of 14 tracks on the album. Every single placement he has on the album will keep you bouncing, and that theory is clearly evident on “Busy.” Over loud horns and drum rolls, Rocko explains just how busy he is with lines like, “I got insomnia, I can’t sleep man/I’m getting money—I’m a bus y man.”

Rocko has a line on “Umma Do Me” where he says, “My old school cost more than your new school.” He quotes himself on that particular line, and wha-lah! He comes up with “Old Skool.” The track is more of the same, solid production with braggadocio lyricism to boot. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what subject matter is about to be discussed on “She Can Get It.” It’s produced by the Miami duo of Cool & Dre and features Dre on the hook, as he continues his best Pharrell impression. The song is cool, but it doesn’t stand out too much, and it sounds like the average song rappers dedicate to the female anatomy.

One track that does stand alone is “Meal.” Rocko goes away from all the material items, and gives thanks and appreciation on how he got to the point where he could afford the finer things in life with lines like, “We can’t help it, we come from the street/we don’t mean no harm man, we just trying to eat/I was a vegan, I f*ck with is veggies and fruit/the crop got scarce, now I f*ck with fish too.”

Besides sharing two children together, Rocko and Monica share the wealth on “Thugs Need Love To.” While baby-daddy spits why he needs love, baby-momma backs him up 100% on hook duties. On “Karma” Rocko gets into a story-telling vibe as he lets the world know what goes around comes around with narrative lyrics like, “A n*gga robbed me, 15 years ago/stuck with a shank, left a hole in my face/took my money, herringbone, beeper off my waste/that karma fooled, he catch him from the blind side/he got shot nine times, now he paralyzed.”

Songs like “Tomorrow,” “Priceless,” and “Like This Here” add to the album and make his entry a smooth one into the rap game. His distinctive and winy Young Jeezy-esque type flow fit well with the production provided to him by Drumma Boy, Cool & Dre, The Runners, Marvelous J, and The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. The high point of the album is the fact Rocko chose to go it alone without a heavy band of guest spots; the only appearances on the album are by artists singing the chorus’. He proves that on a 14-track album, he’s capable of handling all 42 verses on his own. The downside of the album is probably the fact that some of the song titles are spelled incorrectly on purpose. But its safe to say Rocko doesn’t care too much about that, because regardless of how anything is spelled, he’s still going to do him.