Dereos Roads is an alternative hip-hop musician blending boom bap, blues, soul & new age soundscapes, complemented by creative & meaningful lyrics expressed through a raw vocal delivery for a dynamic sonic experience.
Formerly known as Proseed, he began his musical evolution by playing "Chopsticks" on his grandmother's upright piano. At the age of 12, he took classical piano lessons for a year, but quit. He began writing rhymes shortly after that at the age of 14.
Working as a busboy at a golf course restaurant, he saved up a grand to buy a Roland MC-303 Groovebox, a Zoom RT-234 drum machine and Tascam 4-track cassette recorder. Then he learned that all the DJ Premier beats he loved were made from samples, not synthesizers & drum machines.
By his early 20s, he was a regular performer at the Hkhan Hookah Bar, as well as the Shadow Lounge in the early 2000s, both serving as essential hubs for exposing the Pittsburgh area to local hip-hop and providing a place for artists, producers & promoters to meet up & collaborate. In 2004, he co-founded Solid Ground Entertainment with fellow emcees EMS (later known as Kid A, & now AARIE), Chad the Bricklayah & Accolade. On multiple occasions, he performed in the Hip-Hop Buffet Series hosted by promoter & artist Da Button Pusha and freestyled on WPTS FM, also known as Pitt Radio.
In 2012, he joined forces with Fortified PhonetX to co-found Surface Level Records, as they both were staples on the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene & regularly performing throughout the city, providing hip-hop true to its roots & foundation. In 2013, he performed on WRCT 88.3 FM's Advanced Calculus, and was a co-champion of Rhyme Calisthenics as a part of Team EOS, consisting of himself, EOS, Reason (now Reasun) and Moemaw Naedon.
In 2017 he started performing with a keyboard to accompany his instrumentals. A few years later he took his father's Ensanada CG-105 classical guitar (circa early 1970s) to his home studio and began learning to play the stringed instrument. By 2022, he got into iPad production & started incorporating it into his live show using midi controllers.
Evolving in his 20+ year career, Dereos Roads has worked with producers like Maker & Nice Rec, collaborated on tracks with Prozack Turner & Real Deal, and shared the stage with acts such as Tech N9ne, Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, Fat Lip, Manchild of Mars ILL, Blueprint and a host of other exceptional indie hip-hop acts. He currently hosts & performs in two separate event series, Amongst the Crates, a hip-hop event with live MCs, beatmakers & DJs, and Smash the Sound Barrier, a multi-genre event bringing music circles together. On stage, he's typically joined by Sean Zuza on bass guitar.
