Local Rapper Toobe Fresco Seeks to Inspire With His Soulful New Album
“If we have a purpose in life beyond being a cog in the human machine, mine is to help inspire people and that’s pretty cool. I would like to motivate the world.”
The quote above is credited to former New Orleans Saints player, Steve Gleason, but it’s a viewpoint that local hip-hop/soul artist Toobe Fresco shares as well. He has been creating music since he was 16 years old, and as he nears his tenth year of making music, he’s coming to realize that his purpose is also to inspire.
In his younger days, the moniker he went by was slightly different, but he found himself needing to switch it up to foster a better connection with his listeners.
“It used to be C-Ro Del Fresco, but the name pretty much lost all of this meaning as I got older,” he says via phone. “It was a combination of different names. But Toobe is my family name, and I figured I wanted people to be closer to the music and really know who I am. So why not use something as intimate as that name with everybody else? I want to bring you in.”
Fresco is set to hit the road this week. His trek will begin with two shows on back-to-back nights in Cleveland. He’s opening for PJ Morton at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at House of Blues and headlining at Grog Shop at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Locals Uptowne Buddha, Jul Big Green and Curly Chuck will join him for the Grog Shop show.
“Man, there’s high energy, excitement and soul,” Fresco says of his live shows with his band, the Living Sound. “That’s really it. All the guys in my band do such a great job delivering the songs the way they were meant to be and it just feels right. Performing live is an incredible and exhilarating experience. It’s crazy, but it’s a good time for sure.”
