Roscoe Dash already knows what you think of him -- the youthful arrogance coupled with a penchant for pointing the finger -- the thing is that now, he’s moved beyond those assumptions.

“Back in the day, I’d have a lot of people around me that would influence what I had going on,” the 23-year-old singer tells The Boombox. “That’s one of the main things with having a label, even just having your homies around.”

Unfortunately, his immediate circle of cohorts a few short years ago wasn't always on the same page as the entertainer. “They influence a lot of what you have going on,” Dash adds. “And you feel like you can’t make certain records or whatever. Now I’m in a place where everybody’s in the same headspace and that’s a powerful thing.”

It wasn’t long ago that Dash was a little less restrained, particularly when it came to his style -- poppy with just enough "edge" to appeal to teenage girls -- and his belief that he hadn’t been receiving deserved credit for work put in.

In 2009, the rap trio Travis Porter debuted on Roscoe Dash's 'All the Way Turnt Up,' adding verses to the high-energy track while the latter sung the hook. With the song's growing popularity in the streets and over the airwaves, no one really knew who to credit 'Turnt' to. Both entities were claiming ownership. Then? Things got messy.

Dash took to YouTube to explain his case.

"I felt like there was some extra s--- going on... Which I'm not going to speak on because I felt like I was being done unfairly," he said at the time. "I felt like I was being pushed in the shadows of the song. I wasn't getting my shine and I was the one who wrote the song. They just put verses on the song… I'm keeping it all the way funky with y'all.

"I recorded the song. 'All The Way Turnt Up,' that's me, that's me by myself. I really feel like people only listen to the hook, they only listen to the catchy part of the song. I'ma keep it funky with y'all, people only listen to the hook of the song. That's what stick in n----- heads. Who's on the hook? Whose song is it?”

After this outburst, countless industry insiders had begun to think of Dash as an undeveloped tantrum-thrower, an opinion that resonated even deeper three years later when the rapper took to Twitter, going head-to-head with Miguel and Maybach Music Group's Wale over writing credits on the Grammy Award-nominated smash 'Lotus Flower Bomb.' He also accused Kanye West of withholding his credit on the song 'To the World.'

But today is a different day. At Twelve Music Studios in Atlanta, Dash is cheery, playful and even exuberant when talking about what’s next for him. You see, just because he’s been out of sight, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been grinding.

"What I try to do is stay working consistently, all the time,” he reveals. “When I’m not doing anything -- you see I’m in here with no haircut -- this is where I am. I make sure I’m always in the studio, that way when there are times that I may not be able to get in and record some music -- I always have it.”

“That’s 90 to 95 percent of the records I give to somebody else,” Dash continues. “Those come from records that I’ve had for awhile that I haven’t done anything with or even something that I just made thinking it’d be perfect for somebody, I’ll just put ‘em to the side and make sure that I always have something, always."

The Atlanta native is currently preparing to drop his next project titled, ‘While You Were Sleeping.’ The mixtape is to be his first full body of work in about three years. While it’s been done for some months now, the ‘Good Good Night’ creator has been sitting on the project to ensure quality across the board. “We just wanted to make sure that we tuned up everything,” he shares. “And make sure that  the whole body of work -- the visuals as well as the music were on the same playing field. So we just decided to push the whole project back. It was really ready for December [2013]...”

With much of the production coming from long-time collaborator Big A -- he produced previous Roscoe Dash tracks like 'Work' and 'Wassup' -- Dash says they've discovered something fresh in their latest efforts. "It's a really dope sound, really organic," he shares. "We’ve been in the studio everyday just kicking it, like if you were to just wake up and go to your homie’s house."

In addition to Big A, Dash has also recruited newcomer Mike Maven to man the boards. Maven has most recently been working with Juvenile on his upcoming project -- a fact that Dash says held weight in his decision to bring the young beatsmith on. "Juve’s new sound is really crazy too so when I heard that I was like, ‘Gotta have it.’”

In addition, his team is setting up for the release of his documentary, ‘The Untold Story of Roscoe Dash.’ According to the young talent, a lot of his personal story remains untold and the film as well as the mixtape should play a major part in filling fans in. Of ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ Dash says, “If I was to just sit down and not say a word, just make music and let that tell the story of my life, then that’s what it is.”

“From high school to the first time I ever got caught having sex with somebody,” he adds. “All that, it really describes my life.”

Seems like while we were sleeping, Roscoe Dash got some work done -- both inside and out.

Watch Roscoe Dash's 'Everyday' Video

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