Biography
Rockell, born Rachel Mercaldo on Staten Island, arrived a decade after freestyle’s first wave and proved the genre could still mint hits. Robbins Entertainment released “In a Dream” in 1997, and the single became the anthem of freestyle’s late-90s revival, selling strongly and charting nationally while classic freestyle was supposedly long dead.
“When I’m Gone” and “Can’t We Try,” a duet with Collage, kept her on the charts through 1998, and her debut album What Are You Lookin’ At? became one of the era’s defining freestyle records.
Rockell continues to perform on the freestyle circuit, where she represents the genre’s second generation alongside the 80s originals. “In a Dream” sits near the top of this site’s Top 100 by Spotify play data, the highest-ranking record of the revival era.
Songs
- In A Dream, #6 on the Top 100