Rapper Roddy Ricch’s star soared in 2020, and it’s set to rise even higher in 2021.
Roddy Rising
The Compton native’s studio debut, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, won glowing reviews and rocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums list. After slipping from the top spot, it once again ruled the charts a month later, making it the the first rap album in 15 years to do so.
The brutal, heart-wrenching, melodic record made more than $6 million, in addition to winning him accolades from media outlets and streaming platforms. Its fourth single, “The Box,” earned octuple platinum status. The unrelentingly popular track sold more than 8 million units and pulled in 866 million on-demand audio streams in 2020.
Basically, “The Box” clobbered any other song last year.
“The first album was just my first album,” Roddy says. “I’ve got to remind people of that all the time. Yeah, it was big. I had big songs on there. But that was the first time I ever even did that shit.”
It’s easy to see why expectations for his next album are so high.
After a subdued start, Roddy — whose real name is Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. — spoke out about the challenges of his youth.
“I’ve been through a lot. Going through shit like bullets flying. It’ll fuck you up a little bit,” says the 22-year-old hitmaker. “It triggers something else in you. This fame shit is new to me. Being in rooms where you don’t have to worry about shit, I don’t get that side of life yet. I’ll be in the room with millionaires and billionaires and still be like, ‘What’s going on? Who’s that at the door?’”
Roddy grew up in Los Angeles and Compton, the son of a religious mother and father. He was baptized around age seven and has church to thank for his chance meeting with rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Roddy says he laid down a freestyle rap for the “Swimming Pools” singer, who he claims told him, “You going to be somebody in the world.”
From that point, the two rappers’ lives could not have been more different. Lamar became the good kid surviving in a raging city, while Roddy embodied Los Angeles chaos.
From eight through 10th grade, Roddy went to therapy for what he now calls anger and antisocial behavior.
Then he stopped attending sessions and fell off the tracks.
He talks openly about his first robbery, gun charges and stints in jail.
From there, the only way was up. He started writing and recording, developed his distinctive style and harnessed his creativity.
Roddy admitted the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed down his recording process.
“Maybe I make a little less music, but I feel like for me right now less is more because then when I step in the booth I say some crazy shit,” he explains.
“I could work for two or three days and make 50 songs. And then I’ll step away for like a week. Less is more. Spending more time figuring out how I feel and figuring out different things around me.”
But Roddy had an amazing year, and fans were thrilled when he announced an upcoming collaboration with Travis Scott. Is he stressed? No! He may be flying high, but he’s not feeling pressured.
“I feel like pressure is self-imposed,” he says. “I’m in a good place. Whenever my momma turns on the car, I’m still on the radio.”
Of course there are the twitter and instagram connections, but unlike many young performers, Roddy has a stand-alone website too. … As for slightly different take on young performance, we remind you that not all crushes reign equally.
