Priceless Da ROC

Bay Area rapper/dancer Priceless Da ROC was born Shaunrick Sims in 1988 in Lompoc, California. Born into a military household, he spent his childhood moving around a lot, spending his formative years in California; Jamaica, Queens, New York; and Washington, D.C. After finishing high school, Sims moved to Los Angeles to pursue a rap career, but was quickly sidetracked and spent some time homeless and involved in crime before returning to D.C. to get his life back together. He sharpened his focus on music and eventually made his way to San Francisco, where he became involved with the fertile Bay Area hip-hop scene. Sims was highly self-sufficient, recording and mastering his own music, editing his own videos, and basically running a one-person show. He gained some regional acclaim for developing a popular new dance style that came to be known as "Yiken" or later "J12" as it morphed. In 2013 he released the single "Yiken (Certified)" and its accompanying video, which would go on to be viewed millions of times. After a string of singles, he offered up the Forever California mixtape in 2015, followed by All Hail the Turn Up in 2017. ~ Fred Thomas