This is the era of the hip hop weirdo. As high-speed internet became ubiquitous over the last decade or so, and websites like Datpiff and Bandcamp started allowing anyone who could record on their laptop to upload free mixtapes and distribute them far and wide online, we've seen an explosion of rappers and would-be rappers who just do not fit the traditional idea of what a rapper is like. From extremely prolific, occasionally incoherent California rapper Lil B to pop-culture nerds/hip hop grad students Das Racist to Daytona Beach's redheaded teenage sensation Kitty Pryde, it seems like some bizarre new manifestation of hip hop culture's expanding boundaries throws us for a loop every other month. But even in these strangest of times, there is no hip hop MC capable of out-weirding Riff Raff. The unusual Houston rapper with the elaborately sculpted facial hair and the ridiculous rhyme style first came to national attention with his appearance on MTV's 2009 reality series From G's To Gents. Eliminated early, viewers nonetheless remembered him for his mile-a-minute nonsensical babble and the MTV logo he got tattooed on his neck in celebration of his television appearance. And you'd think that would have been the end of his career, but it was just the beginning.
In 2010, he briefly signed to Soulja Boy's S.O.D. Money Gang label, and recorded a collaborative track with NYC rapper Action Bronson and producer Harry Fraud that blew up on youtube. He formed a hip hop trio with comedians Simon Rexx and Andy Milonakis called Three Loco, and after the Soulja Boy deal went sour, he signed with Diplo's Mad Decent label, began releasing a host of mixtapes, and did collab tracks with everyone from Chief Keef to Kid Sister to Kitty Pryde. His most recent releases in a notably prolific career (14 solo albums since 2009) are the self-titled Three Loco debut, which came out in late November, and Hologram Panda, Riff's 14th album and a collaboration with producer Dame Grease, released on 12/12/12.
Three Loco: Milonakis, Riff, and Rexx
Throughout all of these releases, he's showed off a sound and rhyme style so unorthodox as to be nearly unique, even in this modern era when everyone's got at least two cousins who are rappers. Hologram Panda shows off his unusual flow but also makes clear that there's real talent underneath all the craziness; with a voice like Danny Brown's and clear roots in the Southern rap styles that permeate his Houston background, Riff keeps things original and energetic on songs like "I Can Tell Stories" and "Goin Hamilton" as Dame Grease keeps you dancing with catchy and inventive grooves that aren't nearly as odd as the rhymes Riff Raff lays down overtop of them. It all adds up to a presentation that is fun and entertaining, and while humorless old-school "five elements" types might frown upon what Riff Raff is doing, fans of partying and laughter cannot go wrong with his music.
Riff Raff and Kitty Pryde on the set of the "Orion's Belt" video
If anything, it seems like it'll be even more fun in the live environment, and luckily for us, we'll all have a chance to find that out very soon! Riff Raff is performing at Kingdom this Saturday night, and you've got a chance to go see him in all his glory. He'll be capping off an incredible evening featuring some of the greatest hip hop and electronic music talents in the current RVA music scene--everyone from Suburban District to Long Jawns to So Illa and Dem 360 Boyz. Considering that the price of admission is only $10, this evening would be worth attending even without the headliners. Add Riff Raff to the bill, and it becomes positively unmissable. The people who come out to this show will be telling their kids about it someday. So--will we see you there? Don't blow it!
WHAT:Riff Raff Takes Over Kingdom!
WHO:Riff Raff, So Illa, Suburban District, Long Jawns, Dem 360 Boyz, Lil Blu, PJ Murda
WHERE:Kingdom, 10 Walnut Alley (between 17th and 18th Streets in Shockoe Bottom)
WHEN: Saturday, January 26, Doors open at 9 PM
ADMISSION: $10 in advance--advance tickets can be ordered HERE/$15 at the door
We'll leave you with a few highlights of Riff Raff's brief but extraordinary career so far--first, we've got the video for "Peppermint Tint," one of the cloudier, weirder tracks from Hologram Panda. There's fake snow all over the video--could that be a metaphor? Then we've got the video for "Neato," the opening track on Three Loco's self-titled debut EP, which is probably the most hilarious thing I've ever seen that involved Andy Milonakis. Finally, there's one of the many non-musical videos Riff Raff has posted on youtube over the years, in which he gives a seemingly-intoxicated shirtless tour of the kitchen in what is supposedly his Brazilian vacation house. Is it true stupidity or deadpan performance art? That's up to you to decide. But either way, you'll want to be in the building at Kingdom on Saturday night to experience it live.