We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Rockwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York. I was raised in Jersey by extremely Brooklyn parents. We didn’t have much money, so when my father saw that I liked drawing and writing, he’d bring home stationary supplies that they were throwing away at his job. I always had enough paper and stuff to create, and he encouraged me from a young age. My mom stayed calling the kitchen “the gallery” because they were hanging up my drawings and before long they covered the walls floor to ceiling. Now I own and operate an art magazine. Probably not a coincidence.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My project manager once told me that one of my talents was putting the right people in the room together. For years, I would organize poetry events, art shows, festivals, and then curate the vibe. Didn’t matter what kind of art or music. It was about the individuals themselves, and whether they did it for the culture. When I first started out, there weren’t many opportunities for Hip-Hop artists or spoken word poets, so I had to be very persuasive when talking to the owners of these venues and cafes to convince them to take a chance. And those chances don’t come more than once, so we had to make the first one count every time. I’ve had records that flopped and did nothing, but I’ve also sold out venues throughout New Jersey. The people are always most important, and it’s always about the culture first. As long as I kept that in mind, it always turned out fine.

What’s your favorite city, and where would you take a friend visiting for a weekend?
I like Philly a lot. I’d probably take someone to eat at Reading Terminal Market, hang out there for a bit and grab a bunch of snacks and get some Old City Coffee for sure. Then wander chinatown for a bit, take it all in. After that, I like hitting up Tattooed Mom on South Street for Vegan cheese steak and tots. Then not too far down the street is this radical non-profit book shop called Wooden Shoe Books, and they sell all kinds of radical reading materials. Right down the block from that is Repo Records, where I bought a lot of the vinyl I sampled on my first album. Then I’m pretty sure we’d have to sneak into graffiti pier, because I heard it’s closed. At some point though, we’d have to catch a show at The Fire, because it’s one of my favorite venues ever, and the shows are always wild.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely want to Shoutout Janell and Jose, who were two collaborators for about a decade of my come up. They supported me and teamed up with me on countless projects and events over the years, and we all contributed a lot to our community as a whole. I also want to show love to my partner Amanda, without whom Soup Can Magazine would not exist at all. She keeps everything organized and beautiful.

Website: mrchrisrockwell@gmail.com

Instagram: mrchrisrockwell@gmail.com

Linkedin: mrchrisrockwell@gmail.com

Twitter: mrchrisrockwell@gmail.com

Facebook: mrchrisrockwell@gmail.com

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ChrisRockwellRocks

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