Bodega Bamz Details

Bodega Bamz is a happy man. He's not a big star, but he feels he's on his way. He talks fast, words bursting out of his mouth with pride and passion. It's like the 28-year-old rapper born Nathaniel DeLa Rosa is trying to say everything at once. Even if it's hard to keep up, there's a sincerity to his conviction. A half Dominican/half Puerto Rican rapper from Spanish Harlem, he's been releasing music steadily for the past few years.

Recently his buzz grew to new heights, thanks in no small part to the visual for his A$AP Ferg assisted banger, "Amen," off his Strictly 4 My P.A.P.I.Z. mixtape (which you can download on his site). With New York stalwarts A$AP Rocky and French Montana successfully transitioning from the streets to fame, Bamz is one of the new rising New York rappers who is poised to make an impact beyond the underground, and prove New York is still a vibrant hub for new rap talent. That is, if all goes according to plan.

All this buzz has fans asking, Who Is Bodega Bamz? We got on the horn with Bamz while he sat in the basement of a building his father is the super of, to talk about his religious upbringing, why he doesn't respect what he calls "Now and Later Rappers," and trying out for a role on Reading Rainbow...