Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr better known as Roddy Ricch is one of the most exciting up-and-coming rappers right now. His melodic flair and flagrantly fun brand of hip-hop has been around since 2017, but thanks to a surprise hit he has finally cemented his spot at the top. Spurred by over 2 million videos on TikTok, The Box made an impression with its 15-second opening and the pervasive sound of a squeaky windshield. It might be a meme but today it marks a moment of triumph for the Compton rapper who continues to succeed with joyous features and his debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial that is as good as it gets.
If you 're looking for more to sink your teeth into, we have you covered with 11 reasons why Roddy Ricch is one of the best rappers in the game.
1. The Box
Whatever way you slice 2020, it wouldn't be the same without Roddy's ubiquitous #1 smash, The Box. The trap hit spent 28 weeks on the charts with eleven of those weeks spent at the top.
2. "Ehh-errr"
Is it the sound of a squeaky windscreen wiper? A creaky door? According to Roddy, it's his own voice and a homage to a video of Michael Jackson beatboxing.
“I seen Michael Jackson do it. That’s what made me want to do it," he explained during an appearance on HBO's The Shop: Uninterrupted. "‘Cause he was in the studio one time and he was talking about some song that he made but he started beatboxing and he said he put that in the beat.”
But how did the squeak come about? "We made ‘The Box’ at 6 am in NYC after being up all night," Atlantic Records A&R Keefa Black shared on Twitter. "You can only imagine my face when Roddy already finished the song and said ‘Wait let me add something. And EHH ERRR. EHH ERR was born.”
3. All the entertainment The Box has given us
There is no denying that TikTok plays a pivotal role in today's music charts. The virality and memetic quality of The Box helped get it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The first TikTok came from Jay Will (@jaywill4real) who spoofed the song with a video captioned, "This how Roddy Ricch made The Box." The clip even got Roddy's seal of approval.
@jaywill4real This how Roddy Ricch made The Box ???? ##music ##foryou ##foryoupage ##featureme
4. Roddy is actually pretty funny
The Compton rapper's reign at the top of the charts coincided with pop superstar, Justin Bieber's triumphant return to music. In a bid to topple The Box, Bieber's team released guides for fans to follow, effectively a call to arms that included streaming Yummy while sleeping, as well as advising international fans to use VPNs to beat the system and sway US charts. The move was highly criticiSed but Roddy decided to give the Canadian star a helping hand anyway.
stream yummy by justin bieber ????
— Roddy Ricch (@RoddyRicch) January 11, 2020
5. Die Young
Released in 2018, Roddy garnered some attention for his YouTube hit, Die Young which to date has over 100 million views. It's a melodic albeit melancholy hymn that flips the Soundcloud-era emo requiems on its head. Lyrics like "I ain't tryna die young/so I gotta ride with one/still ten toes down in my Balenciagas," and "I rather be judged by twelve, than carried by six," epitomise a zest for life and yearning to upend the distressing trend of young rappers dying.
The 21-year-old rapper penned the song as a dedication to XXXTentacion, Lil Snupe and Speaker Knockerz. “I didn’t really personally know [XXXTentacion], but at the same time, he was a very influential person and a lot of people tend to connect with him for some type of reason,” Roddy told Genius. “I feel like people with that kind of power, always seem to fade away or die or fall off or something.”
6. Roddy's verse on DaBaby's Rockstar
The music video sees DaBaby and Roddy teaming up to fight zombies while ruminating on their new rockstar lifestyles. The guitar-laden melody is contagious as the two rappers go back to back on another #1 hit. To date, Rockstar has spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
7. Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial set the benchmark for a debut album
Roddy's first studio album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial is the longest-running #1 debut rap album on the Billboard 200 since 50 Cent's 2003 record, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Released in 2019, songs like High Fashion featuring Mustard and Back Seat with Ty Dolla Sign showcase the rapper's range as well as his appetite for high-octane, 808-heavy moments.
8. His love for chicken satay
If you didn't already know, Roddy is a huge fan of chicken satay but more specifically the iteration of the dish at Jue Lan's. During an interview with Billboard the rapper ordered multiple servings of the dish at the upscale New York City Chinese restaurant. The man has taste.
9. Roddy is Nipsey Hussle's protege
In an interview on Real 92.3’s Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Roddy revealed that the late Nipsey Hussle was the only rapper on the West Coast to openly support him. “He the reason why I am here today, like forreal forreal," he admitted. In May of 2017, Nipsey brought out Roddy as his guest at a PowerHouse concert in LA, before they collaborated on Racks In The Middle, a Hit-Boy production that gave both rappers their first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned Roddy a Grammy for Best Rap Performance.
10. The tribute Roddy made to Nipsey
Following Nipsey's tragic untimely death in 2019, Roddy joined Meek Mill in paying tribute to his fellow Compton rapper and mentor on Letter To Nipsey. All proceeds from sales and streams of Letter to Nipsey directly benefit Nipsey's family.
11. His affinity for High Fashion
Roddy has persevered, through the good times and the bad and continues to make music that is joyous, triumphant, and contemplative. His latest single High Fashion is a rhythmic and irreverently fun salvo about dressing his girl in Prada, Goyard, "Chane'-ne'" and "Dio'-o," and we love it.
