Rockwell Knuckles

North Side Origins

Rockwell Knuckles, born Corey Barnett, is a rapper from the north side of St. Louis, Missouri. He went to Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, where he got his nickname. After he punched someone who was bullying him at a bus stop, a friend said he had "rocky knuckles." He later turned that into "Rockwell Knuckles," partly to avoid the "-y" endings used by many St. Louis rappers at the time. He attended Harris-Stowe State University before leaving to join Pangea, a group of seven St. Louis rappers.

Going Solo

Pangea split up by 2003. Rockwell moved to Los Angeles to record with a production team called the Art Thugs. In July 2004 a house fire destroyed his belongings, and he started over as a solo artist. He released a 29-track mixtape, The New Standard, in late 2005, and his debut album, Northside Phenomenon, in November 2007. In 2008 he appeared on Black Spade's Om Records album To Serve With Love. In February 2008 he reached the semifinals of the Koch Madness competition.

Choose Your Own Adventure

His best-known project is Choose Your Own Adventure (2010), released with DJ Trackstar and The Smoking Section. Trifeckta and Black Spade (as Stoney Rock) produced most of it. It includes "Government Name" and "Bad Guy," which features Tef Poe, as well as guest spots from Theresa Payne and Family Affair. He later signed an independent deal with XMG, whose roster included Mickey Factz. He played SXSW, where an Uproxx writer named him an artist "pegged for stardom." His song "Play Catch" was on the soundtrack of the 2011 ski film One for the Road, which won Best Soundtrack at the International Freeski Film Festival in Montreal. He opened for GZA, RJD2 and Brother Ali. He also performed on bills with Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T. and Yelawolf, and he received several Riverfront Times Music Award nominations.

Later Releases

The album You're Fucking Out, I'm Fucking In followed in 2011. He spent time living in Brooklyn and also returned to St. Louis. In 2020, for the tenth anniversary of Choose Your Own Adventure, he put his earlier albums on streaming services. He also appeared on Nato Caliph's Understanding Understood (2014).