Roddy Ricch


Rodrick Wayne Moore, Jr., known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He released his first two mixtapes Feed Tha Streets and Feed Tha Streets II. The latter peaked at number 67 on the US Billboard 200 and featured his first Billboard Hot 100 charting single "Die Young". In 2019, Ricch was featured on Nipsey Hussle's single "Racks in the Middle", which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, and on Mustard's Grammy-nominated single "Ballin'", which reached the top 20 of the Hot 100.
Ricch's debut studio album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial was released through Atlantic Records and Bird Vision Entertainment, and debuted atop the Billboard 200. It spawned the Hot 100 number-one single "The Box", becoming his most popular song worldwide, as well as the Mustard-assisted single "High Fashion". DaBaby's single "Rockstar", featuring Ricch, became his second number-one on the Hot 100.
Throughout his career, Ricch has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning one. He has also been nominated for five BET Awards, winning two.

Early life

Rodrick Wayne Moore, Jr. was born on October 22, 1998 in Compton, California, where he was raised. Ricch attended Carson Senior High School and Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets. He spent some time living in Atlanta, Georgia in his youth. Roddy Ricch started rapping and singing as young as 8, and he began making beats in earnest at age 16. In Compton, Ricch was a member of the Park Village Compton Crips, and has two "C"s tattooed, symbolizing his previous affiliation with the gang. He also had a brief stint in county jail at the time when his mixtape, Feed Tha Streets II was released. He listened to Lil Wayne growing up, as well as Young Thug, Future, and Speaker Knockerz.

Career

2017–2019: ''Feed Tha Streets'' mixtapes and collaborations

In November 2017, he released his first mixtape, Feed Tha Streets, which featured songs like "Chase Tha Bag", "Hoodricch", and "Fucc It Up". The tape earned him praise from established rappers like Meek Mill, Nipsey Hussle, DJ Mustard and 03 Greedo. In March 2018, he released an EP entitled Be 4 Tha Fame. In May of that year, Nipsey Hussle brought Ricch out as his guest at a PowerHouse concert in Los Angeles.
In July 2018, he released the London on da Track-produced single, "Die Young", which he had written for a childhood friend, who was lost in a high speed chase and said in a Genius interview he had written it the night XXXTentacion died. The song—which was dedicated, in part, to the childhood friend and its music video would go on to accumulate over 80 million views on YouTube and 120 million streams on Spotify. In August 2018, he released the single "Ricch Forever", produced by DJ Bugsy. That month, Marshmello released a preview of a them with a collaborative track with Ricch "Project Dreams" before Ricch was featured on a track with Nipsey Hussle, "Racks in the Middle", with a feature and production by Hit-Boy, released on February 15, 2019, later becoming both first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and earning him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance.
In October 2018, Meek Mill brought Ricch out as his guest at a PowerHouse concert in Philadelphia. Mill also gifted him a "Dreamchasers" chain, appearing on his fourth studio album Championships, in which he was a feature alongside Future and Young Thug on the song "Splash Warning" from the album. On November 2, 2018, Ricch released his second mixtape, Feed Tha Streets II. The album, which features the singles "Die Young" and "Every Season", peaked at number 67 on the Billboard 200 chart and at number 36 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Later in the month, Marshmello previewed a new track with Ricch.

2019–present: ''Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial'' and "The Box"

In June 2019, he collaborated with American DJ and record producer Mustard on the track, "Ballin'", off Mustard's third studio album, Perfect Ten, which became Mustard's highest charting song on the Hot 100 as a lead artist, peaking at number 12. The song received a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards. In December 2019, he released his debut studio album, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, debuting and spending four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. It became the longest running number one debut rap album in the US since 2003. The album featured Ricch's highest charting single, "The Box", which topped the Hot 100 for eleven weeks, as well as "Start wit Me" featuring Gunna, which peaked at number 56. Because of the strength of "The Box", a collaboration with Mustard, "High Fashion", which appeared on the album, reached the top 40 at number 35, the week he hit number one on the Hot 100. The song later peaked at number 20.
In early 2020, he appeared on a number of songs by other artists, including the Nipsey Hussle-ode "Letter to Nipsey" by Meek Mill, "Cooler Than A Bitch" on Gunna's second studio album Wunna, and "Walk Em Down" by NLE Choppa. In April 2020, Ricch was featured on DaBaby's "Rockstar", which became his second number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, spending six weeks on top so far, as well as reaching number one in the UK, and in several other countries. Ricch became the first artist to achieve his first two number one singles in the same year since Ed Sheeran did it in 2017. Ricch won Album of the Year at the 2020 BET Awards. He has spent eighteen cumulative weeks atop the Hot 100 so far, the most for any artist in 2020. In July 2020, Ricch was featured on Pop Smoke's single "The Woo", from his posthumous debut album, Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. The track reached number nine in the UK and number 11 on the Hot 100.

Artistry

Ricch has been recognized for his raspy voice "that works wonders with vocal filters". Paul Thompson of Vulture called Ricch "an undeniably talented vocalist and occasionally a compelling songwriter", opining how he "frequently adopts the same syntax and vocal intonations as Young Thug". His music style blends rapping and singing.
Cady Lang of Time magazine noted Ricch's "remarkable musical style as a rapper combines his West Coast hip hop|West Coast roots with the sound of trap music and Chicago drill rap, which gets an extra gravitas with his lyrics that range from pondering the tough realities of life to bouts of uninhibited bravado".
On the transcending themes of his music, Ricch draws inspiration from his life, stating: "As I experience life, my music is gonna evolve. At the same time, I still do tell the stories from my world because there are unlimited stories and unlimited people from that place. I'll always represent them. As my life begins to change and I do different things, I still want to be able to tap in and relate to them".
Ricch has cited Kendrick Lamar, who is also from his hometown of Compton, as a musical influence. He has stated that rapper Speaker Knockerz is his biggest influence, along with the "basis" of his music coming from him. Ricch also credits Young Thug, Future and Gucci Mane as influences.

Discography