Big Herk
Big Herk (Amery Dennard), Detroit rapper from Rock Bottom: From the Bottom Up (1997), solo LPs Guilty As Charged (2003) and Overdose (2013) on Got’Cha Back.
Woodrow Wilson
Big Herk, born Amery Dennard, grew up in the Woodrow Wilson area near Dexter-Linwood in central Detroit. He began rapping and breakdancing around 1987. His first group, Real Def Organization, recorded “We’re Hard” on reel-to-reel equipment. He then performed as MC Herk before joining neighborhood associates including J-Nutty in Rebels Against the System, which released “Motor Livin’.”
Rock Bottom
In 1996 Herk helped form Rock Bottom. The group’s 1997 album From the Bottom Up got radio play in Detroit and marked his breakthrough. Rock Bottom followed it with Alligator City (2000) and Who Is Rock Bottom? (2002). Herk left the group in 2003.
Got’Cha Back Entertainment
Herk set up his own label, Got’Cha Back Entertainment, and released his solo album Guilty As Charged on it in 2003, including “I’m a Boss.” Still Guilty: Da Undaground LP & DVD followed in 2004 and the mixtape Play Time’s Over in 2007. He appeared in the film Project 313 and as a playable character in the video game Def Jam: Icon.
Later work
Herk has featured on tracks by Slum Village (2004) and Obie Trice (2006) and on the 2014 remix of “Detroit Vs. Everybody,” and has recorded with Trick-Trick, Royce da 5'9", Esham, Elzhi and Tone Tone. Overdose came out on Got’Cha Back in 2013, and in 2016 he released The Bloodline with his son, Young Herk. Discogs credits him on more than 100 releases, most of them guest spots and Detroit mixtapes.
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