How many Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduates can say they've taken a ride around New York with a platinum-selling recording artist?

Rockie Fresh can.

According to MTV News, the Homewood native flew to the Big Apple to meet with Rick Ross before signing to join the rappers Maybach Music Group. Ross tweeted a photo of Fresh inking the deal at around 4 a.m. on July 12.

Fresh sat down with Patch in January of 2011 to talk about his days at H-F.

Fresh said he was in talks with several record labels, including Bad Boy, Columbia and RCA, before agreeing to sign with Ross. He gave MTV News a rundown of what his first visit with Ross was like:

"It was so chill and organic that I didn't think he was going to sign me. We really didn't talk about business or anything. The next day, we went our separate ways and they let me know they were interested in doing a deal, and we've been working it out since then," Rockie continued, explaining that it took about a month and a half to finalize things. "I had some other offers on the table too, but I didn't want to ruin any relationships. I wanted to make sure that I handled everything as smoothly as possible and gave everybody a fair shot."

Rockie's next mix tape, Electric Highway, will be released this fall.