Roddy Ricch Essentials

Roddy Ricch represents an exciting wave of MCs whose mix of street talk and confessionals has breathed new life into hardcore rap. And while he reps his home city of Compton, Ricch’s style isn’t bound by region—the boom is trap, the steely delivery Chicago drill, the laidback stoicism straight West Coast. And the lyrics are as personal as can be, as proven by his wistful breakthrough 2018 single “Die Young” and his Apple Music Award-winning 2020 track “The Box”. The essence of Ricch’s art is an unflinching honesty about where he came from and what he’s gone through, from nights on cold floors to the steady drip of violence that marked his young life. (“That ain’t normal,” he admits on “War Baby”.) Ricch’s frequently Auto-Tuned, half-sung warble has a way of bringing us further into his stories while still letting him express himself fully as a rapper. Those same qualities have also made him a powerfully poignant guest star, whether on Nipsey Hussle’s Grammy-winning “Racks in the Middle” or alongside kindred spirits like DaBaby and A Boogie wit da Hoodie. You know that whenever Ricch is involved, that’s an instant seal of emotional authenticity.