San Mateo native Rasco (whose name is an acronym for "realistic, ambitious, serious, cautious, and organized") worked as a member of the West Coast hip-hop groups Various Blends and Cali Agents. His deep voice and straight-ahead rap style came to the public's attention with his 1997 12" The Unassisted, which earned him several honors including number one on the Bay Area Hip-Hop Coalition chart, number one on the independent hip-hop chart in Hits magazine