Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, is like growing up in the wild, probably the reason many call it the “concrete jungle.” Joseph Rohlehr, also known as Sidda, was born in the East Flatbush area of Brooklyn to two Guyanese immigrant parents. His parents had come to America in the early ‘80s with his older brother, Leo, and begun their new lives in hopes of a better opportunity.
Sidda grew up around musicians his whole life, his uncle was a piano player at a local jazz club and his cousins all played instruments. He had tried to learn how to play guitar and drums but for some reason, it didn’t stick.
“I always wanted to be able to play instruments but no matter what it was I couldn’t get the hang of it. Computers were coming out around that time and my dad had got the family one. I would use it and play programs on it all the time but soon after I realized that I could make music on there as well.”
When he started high school, he had begun hanging around friends more at the basketball court. There he would be freestyling with them and making beats with pencils on the park bench tables. When he turned 16, he went with one of his friends to a music studio because his friend was going to record a song. He sat there and fell in love with the process of making music.
From then on, he would always go with his friend to the studio anytime he went. At first, he was just there to listen but soon after he began coming in with his lyrics and beats. He recorded his first song at 17. By the age of 19, he had begun recording and engineering his music in his room.
“I started on a program called FL Studios and went and bought my microphone and headphones. From there, I started teaching myself how to record properly and learned what was the right equipment to use.”
His friend, Nivlac Lemaj, was the first artist he worked with and they have had plenty of time building their chemistry.
“Joey is the smartest guy I know. He could learn anything if he put his mind to it. Once I saw him start making music I knew I had to work with him. I always rapped but didn’t know the technical side of things until he showed me,” Lemaj said.
Music isn’t his only talent. After taking some time away from school, he returned to college and graduated with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology at LIU Brooklyn. Wanting to pursue his doctorate, he moved to Hawaii to continue school and has been living there ever since.
“Leaving Brooklyn was always a dream of mine, and to relocate to Hawaii is like heaven on earth. I knew I could be a better version of myself out here and grow more healthily.”
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