Groov Marro was raised in the Philadelphia/Norristown area. Some of his musical inspirations from childhood forward range from Ludacris, Jay-Z, T.I., Eminem, Mac Miller and more.
Marro stands out for a number of reasons – his unique look, his positive/deep, yet clever, lyrical ability and his humble, yet cocky personality. Even more, he’s currently serving his sixth year in the Army National Guard, while also pursuing a full-time career in music.
Marro has never let his passion for real hip-hop music die. He continues to showcase positive messages in his music even when his surroundings in the Philadelphia area are often chaotic. Recently, he released a new music video on Facebook called “Stop Me” that gained more than a million views in less than two weeks. As a result, he has gained many new fans all over the world and has even been published on major hip-hop blogs such as thisis50.com.
PW recently caught up with Marros to talk about the new video and his career.
You recently released a video called “Stop Me” that garnered more than a million views on Facebook in less than two weeks. Talk a little about how the video came together. Were you surprised by the overwhelming response?
Well, at the beginning of the video is a clip of my son from over two years ago. I just so happen to catch it on video and instantly said that I’d be using it in one of my future videos. I honestly did not expect that good of a turnout. It’s not easy getting people to come out to video shoots. My videographer by the name @EveryWay4K on social media brought all the visuals together perfectly!
I was completely blown away by the response. I was watching the views climb, thinking there was some kind of glitch. The next thing I know, I wake the day it broke 1 million views to a bunch of congratulations texts telling me my video hit 1M before I even saw it for myself!
Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you become interested in music? Who were some of your early influences?
My first interest in music actually came from my older brother. He is featured on a few of my songs and music videos by the name “KAF.” To this day, he is still one of the best freestylers I’ve come across.
Early in my pursuit of a music career, I was inspired by artists like Jay-Z, DMX, Lupe Fiasco, T.I, Ludacris, Redman, Method Man, Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes, to name a few. Their unique styles, creativity, lyrical ability and the way they flow on a beat always stood out to me.
You are now in your sixth year as a member of the Army National Guard. How do you juggle that while also pursuing a full-time career in music?
Although serving as a member of the PA Army National Guard can be very tasking at times and time consuming, it is also very fulfilling. I already served a few years before I took my passion for music public. So knowing how things work and understanding what I can and cannot do/say as far as my music and video content goes, it isn’t very hard to juggle between the two.
How did the pandemic affect your career? How did you spend your time in self-isolation?
Me being an essential worker, I personally do not feel as though the pandemic affected me very much, aside from not being able to do live performances. I had to cancel multiple performances that were scheduled ahead of time. I look at self-isolation as something positive. It has given me ample time to create more content, explore different styles and try different deliveries on my music. Also new music video ideas.
What’s ahead for you? Where do you see yourself after the pandemic clears and things get back to normal?
Well, after teaming up with Caleb Box of Vibe Star Entertainment, we have come up with some great promotional moves and plans to take things to the next level. When things go back to normal, I plan on going back to live performances as soon as possible with Vibe Star Ent. We are well-connected and very knowledgeable in this area, so you can look forward to seeing us as one of the big names in Hip-hop in the future!
Fans can keep up with Groov Marro online here:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/groovmarro
FB: https://www.facebook.com/GroovMarro
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/groovmarro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GroovMarro
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/groovmarro
Website: https://groovmarro.com
