RICHIE RICH(July 2010) | Interview By:
Javon Adams
Too often music is focused on the next big thing. Artists are treated like
they are disposable and are often discarded when I perceived improved
version appears. Well newer is not always better and artists that have been
around for awhile can still bring the pain even after being in the game for
15+ years. Richie Rich, the Oakland vet, is as sharp with his pen as ever
and Dubcnn.com had the opportunity to catch up with the Hip Hop stalwart.
Aside from some guest appearances here and there Rich has been on a self
imposed 9 year hiatus.
Read on to find out what he was up to and what he has
planned musically now that he is officially back. Double R talks about his
old label Def Jam and that experience and how he plans to get the streets
buzzing about his new projects.
Richie Rich. Oakland Vet. Need I say more? Read on and enjoy. As always feel free to hit up
javon@dubcnn.com with questions or comments.
Ice Cube Interview Audio - July 2010: Download
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Dubcnn: This is Javon with Dubcnn.com. Its not often that I get the
pleasure to really sit down and talk to a legend in the game, but I have
that pleasure right now. It is the legendary Richie Rich. What’s going
on man? How are you doing?
What’s good? What’s good with you man? I’m just hanging man. Sitting
back in the studio lampin’.
Dubcnn: Ok ok. So you said you’re in the studio so I gotta ask you and
get it out right there. I’ve heard you on a song here or there over the
years but you’ve been out of the game in terms of full projects for a
little over 9 years. Where have you been man? Fill in the gaps. What
have you been up to?
I’ve been off the (unintelligible) but I’ve been in the game, know
what I’m talkin’ ‘bout? I took some hiatuses every now and then…I told a
couple of cats earlier that being the type of dude that I am with one
foot in the street and the other in the music and one foot in this…I
wear a gang of hats. What happened is I took a music break right around
the time I dropped the album in 2002. Since then I kinda stepped back
because I was raising my daughter, you know, my first kid. You know what
I’m talking ‘bout?
Dubcnn: Ok
When I was on Def Jam she was young so she couldn’t really hear what
daddy was talking about. As she started getting a little older it
started coming to my attention that daddy be going real greasy on this
mic, know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout? This is my only kid and it’s a girl
and I don’t wanna taint the baby with all the game and all the pimpin’
and all the bullsh*t. Know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout?
Dubcnn: Got ya
So that was my initial reason for kinda backing up a little bit.
Plus at that time I was a little bitter with music. Not music in general
but some of my shortcomings. You know, as long as a ni**a been in the
game and a lot of things happen for (other) guys that were just jumping
it. Part of me was like, ‘Damn, maybe this sh*t really ain’t for me.’ Ya
dig?
So I kinda stalled music out. I never stopped making music but I just
stopped releasing music. Know what I’m talking about?
Dubcnn: I hear you exactly. Now…
So then when I…oh, go for it…
Dubcnn: No, go right ahead
So when I finally sat back and got over that…and I was trying to
figure a way to get a little slicker with my pen where I could still
give to the people without, you know, having my daughter look at a ni**a
in a different light. I finally got back on my horse but the Hyphy
movement was the thing. It was moving around here. And Hyphy, I don’t do
the Hyphy. I had to wait that out. I waited and went on and watched a
lot of guys do it and watched a lot of guys switch hit and pinch hit and
all the sh*t (laughs). But I couldn’t go there with it my guy. It’s just
the way I was raised…I just couldn’t go there with it. I don’t knock the
movement. It’s just something that Rich couldn’t do, you know what I’m
talking about?
So during all that time I was still recording music though. I’m always
recording music. I own a studio with one of my business partners so the
music was always happening but I just wasn’t releasing any music. Feel
me?
Dubcnn: Got you. Now one of the things you mentioned was Def Jam. I
remember when I heard that you signed with Def Jam. Obviously Def Jam is
a legendary label and all that stuff but I was unsure about the fit.
What was that experience like at Def Jam? Was it a regretful decision to
sign with them? What was it like during that time?
(The) Def Jam sh*t was a good look, you know what I mean? It was a
great look. I had choices to go to Def Jam. I had Relativity barking at
the door. Everybody was throwing stuff at the plate that was decent
because I was just coming off that hot I Got Five On It verse. I had did
(a song) with 2Pac called Heavy In The Game so labels were talking good.
But my thing was when Def Jam came into place I already knew that’s
where I wanted to be. I mean that’s Russell Simmons. We’re talking Def
Jam, you know what I’m talking about?
Def Jam was a good look. The first record we put together we kinda got
worried about whether they could market me because I’m from the West
Coast and they are an East Coast label. They put that first record
together and we released it and it did some pretty solid numbers. Right
around 400,000 or something like that. It was a good look.
So we loaded up for that second album and then that’s when that merger,
the Polygram merger came into play. They (Def Jam) was about to sell the
company.
Dubcnn: Ok, I remember that.
So, they were about to sell the company and what happened was
Russell (Simmons) and Lyor (Cohen) called a meeting with me and my team
and let us know that the label was up for sale. They weren’t sure who
was going to be running the joint. They were basically giving us an
option like, ‘you can hang around if you want to or you can dip.’ They
told me they would release me and give me my record and they would let
me walk with some money.
So I’m sitting there like damn. I wanted to stay with the label but they
said when they sell it they don’t know who’s going to be running the
joint. I had got bonded with the people I was working with. I wanted to
f*ck with Def Jam because of Russell and because of Lyor. So we looked
at the paper offer and them giving us the record and we opted to roll.
But what happened is when the sale of the company went through they came
at Lyor and told him that would like to pay him to run the company. But
he would have to fire all of his employees. They wanted to keep him on
board. Lyor was like, ‘That’s a no go. If they go I go. These are the
people that made me so I’m not just going to trim the fat and f*ck with
y’all like that.’ I guess they were so blown away by the fact that he
was a stand up dude that they said ‘F*ck it, we’ll pay him and his staff
and y’all just run the joint.’
Had I know that, I would have stayed around that thing. You feel me? All
my sh*t at Def Jam was a good look. I don’t have no quarrels with the
label. They did everything top notch. Everything I did when I was f*cking
with them…just the way they rolled in general is solid. What happened
was that is was just a bad career decision I guess on my part. Because
my manager made it seem like we could be out of there and go somewhere
else quickly. But that didn’t happen either.
Dubcnn: Well that clears it up because when you can’t speak to an artist
directly and you’re on the other side you start speculating and thinking
that maybe it was a bad marriage. But that clears a lot up right there.
Now in terms of new projects and new business situations that Town
Bidness is the name of the mixtape. But is it also the name of the
upcoming album too or is that different?
Town Bidness is actually the movement. That’s what we named the
mixtape and we have a Volume 1, 2 and 3. There are 12 songs on each
album and they are slated to be released 90 days apart from one another.
We call it a mixtape but if you listen it’s not a mixtape. It’s really a
street album. I call it a mixtape because I’ve been off the circuit for
so long to where mixtapes had finally made it from the East Coast to the
West Coast. Now people are doing mixtapes out here so I said, ‘F*ck it,
call it a mixtape and lets drop some music.’
What I was planning to do…I put together a collage of 40 songs. I was
going to put a double album together and I’m going to give this motherf*cker
away. You know what I mean? Just press 15,000 of them up and just give
them away. This is for motherf*ckers that have been holding me down for
so long. Damn near like an apologetic record. Like, ‘Here goes some
motherf*ckin’ music.’ You know what I mean?
Well, one of my buddies who runs all of my digital catalog told me that
it was too much music to bang at one time. He said I should break it up
into three different records and put about 12 to 13 joints on each one.
He said people run through music so fast now (so it’s better) to drop
something every 90 days. The new policy is that you have to stay at
them. That’s what we decided to do and this is an installment of the
three.
It’s actually a good record and the one that comes behind it, in my
opinion is an even hotter record. Volume 3 is an even hotter record.
Know what I mean? So that’s how I designed them. Now, these are not the
Richie Rich albums…they are albums but I’m calling them street records.
Now my Grammy sh*t, my big sh*t is what I’ve been recording since I
started dropping this sh*t (mixtapes). It has new production. I’ve been
working with guys and I’ve finally developed a sound.
I used to just stay going hard on a bi*ch. That was my main focus.
Whenever I rapped about broads I was going hard. I smoothed it out a
little bit. I have an angle where I can (unintelligible) and the song
still come out hot. I’ve been working on perfecting my craft. And now I
have a collage of music that I’m calling The Repercussion. And that is
what I’m calling the (official) Rich record. That actual joint. But
what’s cold is that people are feeling the sh*t that I have out now so
much that (I’m thinking) maybe I should stay going in that direction.
Dubcnn: (laughs) It’s a tough decision, right?
What those three records are designed to do is kinda catch me up
from where I left off. Because without that I just can’t come out now
and be spitting from where I feel I really should be because I missed
some spots. So those 3 records are to fill in those gaps. And from
there, pow it’s 2010 and the new movement.
Dubcnn: Gotcha. So in terms of what you’re doing…obviously you’re doing
this stuff independent. You have seen both sides of the fence by working
with a major and doing things on an independent level. Talk about how
technology helps you to get your movement up and running and get
exposure to so many new fans.
It’s lovely now because you have twitter, facebook, myspace and
ustream. And you have the hot Hip Hop sites like worldstarhiphop.com and
the avenues where you can get your video shown. Of course you have
youtube. Music videos don’t cost what they used to cost. So you can get
your visual and your music to the people without the aid of a label.
Now, you may not have that power to push (your project) the way a label
does but in the situation that I’m in I’m building up to another
situation. It could be a stronger independent situation or a solid label
situation. But with all of these tools that I have I can just get to my
people and let them know that the kid is still around. I’m still doing
it. And before you couldn’t do that. Know what I mean? You would have to
wait on them (labels) and all that. What I’ve been doing is basically
streaming this new Rich movement and funneling it through the streets.
I’m doing a grassroots hustle back. I mean, I could have put these
records out and shopped big and tried to come out labeled up out the
gate. But that’s not the way I wanted to do this. I’m taking it back to
when I first got started. It was a grassroots hustle. We pressed the sh*t
up and drove around with the sh*t in the trunks. We hit the malls and
sold stuff ourselves. We ran the sh*t the best way we could to get the
buzz going and get the people talking.
It’s like firing up a dope spot. You get the good dope out there and
everybody can’t get it. But the people who do get it are going to talk
about it. That will make people ask and wonder about it. And then as it
matures, the doors that I would usually have to go knock on will be
knocking at my door. You know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout? And that’s just
the way we’re running it. We’re running a grassroots hustle with these
Town Bidness albums. I mean they are spreading like wildfires, ya dig?
Dubcnn: Now speaking of that. We’ll try to help it spread a little more.
So as we close out let people know some of the sites they can go to and
get this new Richie Rich product man.
It’s all available on iTunes and a lot of the other sites. There’s a
million of those sites that have music online. We have a digital deal
that puts the music on all of those websites. You can get it from
rapbay.com also. If you are a store and you want to order units you can
get them from www.rapbay.com. Amazon.com and all those type of joints.
And you can check up on me on twitter at @tharealdubbler I have the
official Richie Rich fan page on facebook. My myspace is
www.myspace.com/richierichonline.com and you can order the record from
any of those sites too except twitter.
Dubcnn: Alright. We’re going to have to catch up and do a part 2 and
part 3. We gotta get deeper into the history of Richie Rich next time.
It’s good my ni**a. Let me know. Whenever you need me I’m around
this motherf*cker.
