RALPH ROLLE
DIRECTOR
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” —Henry David Thoreau
Everyone wants to be a leader in a world where people don’t often possess the experience or expertise to be in the lead. That is gained from mastering the skills and learning to follow. Ralph Rolle is a prime example of learning to follow and becoming a leader.
Following the lead of his older brother Howard, Ralph learned to play drums. That led him to becoming a well-sought-after musician, who has created music with everyone from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and super producer Nile Rodgers, and his iconic Disco/R&B group Chic as the drummer/vocalist for 18 years, to playing drums with pop legends Sting, Bono, the 1st woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Aretha Franklin, Hip-Hop giants Biggie Smalls, Doug E. Fresh, Rakim and Queen Latifah, Jazz superstar Najee, and Chris Botti, the Queen of Neo-Soul Erykah Badu, soul crooner’s D’Angelo, Freddie Jackson, Pop legends Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Roger Daltrey, Micky Dolenz, Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holiday, Yolanda Adams, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Chaka Khan, Kirk Franklin, India Arie, Ashford and Simpson, Billy Paul, Deniece Williams, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Peabo Bryson, Kenny Lattimore, Frankie Knuckles, John Legend, Eddie LeVert, Smokie Norful, Kelly Price, Darlene Love, Al Green, Little Steven, and so many more. Ralph played in the resident band for N.B.C. ‘It’s Showtime at The Apollo’ hosted by Steve Harvey for over 15 seasons. He also served as the musical director for A.B.C.’s, “The Caroline Rhea Show” and served in the same role for Japanese R&B/Soul superstar, Toshi Kubota. You might’ve seen his performance with Nile Rodgers and Chic on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2024.
Ralph stepped out into the world of music because he was following his brother, who was following the lead of his mother, who brought a set of drums into the apartment to keep her rambunctious Howie off the streets and out of trouble. When Ralph asked his brother can he play the drums, Howie told him, “You can play but don’t switch the drums around!” Ralph is left-handed and his brother was right-handed. Howie exposed Ralph to every kind of music, from R&B, Gospel, Rock and Roll, Poetry, Comedy, and Jazz. For Ralph, Motown’s Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye and the brilliance of the Temptations blew his mind and lead him on a path of dedication to the drums, perfecting his skills by playing along with those records and imitating the grooves. That style of study, because there was no money for lessons, took him around the world, playing on stages, TV shows and arenas that were the sites of some of the greatest moments in music history. He followed his passion for drumming then followed his heart when a new dream, a new vision, rose up in him and began to change his course in life.
Ralph took the time, any time he had, to stop and bake and enjoy life. A craft he learned from his grandmother and mother, Ralph being a painfully shy child, found his way to meet girls by baking cookies and giving it to them as gifts. “My friends had swag…I didn’t. This was my way to start a conversation and it worked every time.” Baking helped him to come down from the tension and time on the road that was always in motion. When he was very young, he followed his grandmother and mother around the kitchen while they cooked but being a smart young boy, Ralph paid attention. He watched the details of baking. He and his cousin, Vincent, where given the honor of licking the bowl after Grampy mixed her delicious cakes and cookies. Baking stayed with him. When he was hanging out with his musician friends, he would bake his signature cookies. “At first, they laughed, but quickly the request became “please bring those cookies with you to every session!”
Over time, his cookies found their way into the hands of many retail clients. The first night he premiered his cookies at an open mic at Sylvia’s Also, next door and owned by the world-famous Sylvia’s Restaurant, he sold cookies for the first time. Melba Wilson, long-time friend, and proprietor of the open-mic night, was telling a customer about Ralph and his drumming accomplishments, happened to be from BET’s, YSB Magazine. He interviewed Ralph, finding out that he was a full-time musician who worked at the Apollo Theater and was also a baker. The only number Ralph could post was his sister’s pager number. She didn’t think he would get too many calls to handle. They were both wrong. The orders poured in and soon, he was featured in CNN, BET, ABC and FOX networks, in the New York Times, The Source and Vibe magazines. From there, Ralph gave birth to “THE SOUL SNACKS COOKIE COMPANY.” Soon, he was selling his cookies all over New York City, to deli’s, café’s, hospitals, caterers and on the internet. Good Morning America host, Robin Roberts, chose Soul Snacks for her holiday gifting in 2011. In 2015, Bette Midler and Ralph met when Nile Rodgers and Chic were the guest artists and Ms. Midler’s annual Hulaween Charity event. Ralph always had cookies with him. He calls it his “cookie calling card”. Ms. Midler loved Soul Snacks so much that she placed orders for her family and friends.
The Soul Snacks Cookie Company offers a wide variety of delicious cookies, with Vegan/Gluten Free Choices as well. Coconut Milk Chocolate Toffee, Georgia Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Peanut Butter, Down Home Double Chocolate Chip, Ebony and Ivory Almond Cookie, Grampy’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie, French Cocoa Chocolate Chip, Miami Raisin Walnut, Chunked Up Chocolate Walnut, Cranberry Oatmeal Raisin, Joyful Gingerbread and the most recently added, but now #1 seller, Sweet Potato Cookies. “Inside of every cookie is years of heart, soul and lots of pride that has been the main ingredient of SOUL SNACKS Cookies for nearly three decades.” The company is looking to upgrade in a new and larger facility. Soul Snacks is now being sold in nearly 800 Walmart stores and 500 Kroger stores. Soul Snacks have also satisfied customers in Japan, Europe, Africa, The West Indies, Canada, and throughout The United States.
Ralph believes, “Passion has no expiration date and there is no Plan B!” Ralph offers, with a smile on his face, realizing that it takes a lot to maintain the business while still loving music and working on new and innovative ideas, like a video series for those who want to learn to play drums called, “Drumming in 21 Days”. “Passion is not predicated on how much money you make. Passion is about finishing the thought. The completion of the task and making it happen is the truth of passion. Making it happen. You’ve got to learn from where you failed and get up each day believing that today is a new day with a new beginning, and you keep going from there.”
Now, he speaks to entrepreneurs and creatives in his Master Class series and empowers them to dream and keep dreaming, even when they are already working on their gifts. “When people get in their own way, when they build their own wall, I am trying to get people to see the value in (YOU). I am always talking to people about getting out of their own way. That is when individuals start to see the world and the possibilities of everything they dream about as attainable. I’ve got 24 hours in a day, and this is all Plan A!”
The music and baking journey is Ralph Rolle’s peace place. Two creative things that he gets to do from his drums and in an oven. As the President and CEO of The Soul Snacks Cookie Company, Ralph gets to bring others forward, especially his Bronx community.
www.ralphrolle.com
www.eatsoulsnacks.com
