Surfacing

Turning the spotlight on musicians making a commercial breakthrough.

“Rich Boy”

Rich Boy

Interscope

Artist info: Rich Boy comes from Mobile, Ala., and has fashioned a deep, dark, tribal rap with attitude and humor. His most recent single, “Boy Looka Here,” bears horn section samples and an almost incomprehensibly Southern drawled rap, which startlingly creates a trance-like ambience, but the hit “Throw Some D’s” has enough energy to spare.

Back story: Marece Richards (a.k.a. Rich Boy) owes much to his mother for teaching him to fly right. Growing up in the ‘hood of Mobile, he had plenty of bad influences to emulate. But he went to college at Tuskegee University, majoring in mechanical engineering. A fellow student got him interested in making beats, which set him on the path of being a producer. Eventually, Rich Boy started rapping over his beats, and “Cold as Ice” started to be played over the local radio station KBLX. Polow Da Don from Atlanta rap group Jim Crow signed him with Zone 4 Entertainment, Polow’s production company. Zone 4 partnered with Interscope Records, releasing the single “Throw Some D’s,” featuring Polow Da Don, and it turned into a Top 10 hit and engendered a Kanye West remix. One industry tip sheet suggests first-week sales may go as high as 100,000 copies.

Influences: UGK, 8Ball & MJG, Crime Boss, Juvenile, Snoop Dogg.

Trivia: The title “Throw Some D’s” came from Rich Boy’s mother. He had just bought a Cadillac and she suggested that he change the color or “throw some Ds on it” (to install Dayton wire rims on a car).

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