Richie Re is an artist to watch in 2022. The Flint, Michigan turned Atlanta, Georgia native has made a significant buzz around her name this past year. The recording artist sat down to talk about her track “Long Hair Thick Ass” featuring Trap Beckham, moving from Flint to Atlanta, juggling her independent career while being a mother of three, and her upcoming project featuring some of Michigan’s best.
How are you enjoying Los Angeles, are you out here a lot?
I like it it’s cool, they got good food. The weather is fairly nice right now. It’s a vibe. I like to come down here for a couple of days. When I come down here I try to record, I have to go to the mall. I haven’t found the ‘best mall’ yet.
Moving from Flint to Atlanta, do you think your sound as an artist reflects where you’re at geographically? Because both Michigan and Atlanta are super hot right now.
No, unfortunately, my music doesn’t. Right now Michigan is real hot right now. YN Jay, Rio, all of them made a sound for Flint, Michigan, and my music doesn’t sound anything like theirs. People really think I’m from Atlanta, and I think it’s because I started making music in Atlanta. My sound definitely doesn’t depict where I’m from.
Female rappers seemed to have always been in their own category, boxed in, or in their own “league”. Yourself being a female rapper, do you think we’re moving closer to it being one category, one genre?
I think women’s period can do any type of genre of music, so I wouldn’t say we’re in any one bubble. I don’t even like to say I’m a rapper or a hip-hop artist, I just say I’m a music artist. I find myself learning new sounds, I find myself trying to do something different, something outside the box.
Your single “Long Hair Thick Ass” featuring Trap Beckham, released earlier this year, can you talk about the process behind making that song?
Casamigos. Patron. We were drunk, just vibing. That was the first time recording with Trap, but that wasn’t the first time meeting him, we’ve come across each other a couple of times. It was a vibe, he came through with his whole entourage, it was a lot of people, I wasn’t expecting that (laughs). We just went off each other’s energy and vibe, we were lit. He went in, I went in, he went in, I went in. And that day I had a long ass frontal, it was long braids, so long hair, thick ass.
Is this the lead single for an upcoming project you’re working on, do you have a timetable for a release date?
Honestly, it is not. This upcoming project, I’m getting ready to put out is totally different. It’s going back to Flint, Michigan, the sound I was telling you I don’t have. Well, this project shows the diversity, that I can do it. The difference between me and other artists is, again I don’t like being put in one little bubble, I like to try new shit. I can play with the wordplay, but honestly, it’s the production. On this project it’s not like I’m not sounding like Richie, it’s more so showing respect to our culture in Michigan and what they curated. We gonna have fun with it, and I got a lotta people on it.
Can you talk more about who you got on there feature wise?
I got (Icewear) Vezzo, I got YN Jay, I’m working on getting one with Babyface (Ray). I got Louie Ray. It’s all niggas, no females, just me. I’m the only one who can be on the tape. It’s never been done before, I just wanted to try something different.
Can you talk more about being an independent artist, the grind it’s been, and the payoff?
People don’t understand, being independent is great & it’s bad. It gets frustrating because you have to do everything on your own. I like the fact I can do what I want when I want, I get to release as much music as I want. I’m not told when I have to drop, it’s fun to have that much freedom. Sometimes when it gets to these big ol’ festivals, as independent artists if you don’t have a hit song, you gotta pay to get on that shit. It has its ups and has its downs, but I can’t complain, it’s cool. I’m becoming more and more of a businesswoman as well as an artist.
How do you balance being a mother while having a rising rap career?
The real answer is fuck them kids, nah I’m just playing. For real, I have a huge support system. I have a nanny, they’re dad is in their lives, my parents come and get them sometimes. My sister flew to Atlanta to get them for me to take them to Michigan, because I had work to do. This shit don’t stop. That’s how I feed them, I feed them off my shows, I feed them off of streams. I’m your best bet, you bet on me you’re gonna win, because I’m not gonna stop, I can’t stop. I don’t have a plan B.
Watch Richie Re’s latest visual for “The Richest” featuring Louie Ray below.
