How Roddy Ricch's 'The Box' Quickly Became The Decade's First Massive Hit

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    How Roddy Ricch's 'The Box' Quickly Became The Decade's First Massive Hit
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    By Sam Murphy

    Roddy Ricch

    The world has caught Roddy Ricch fever. This time last year the Compton MC was barely known outside of rap circles and now he’s had the most streamed song in the world with The Box. Last year, he dropped his debut album Please Excuse Me For Being Anti-Social awarding him his first number one record in the US. The record had big support from masters like Meek Mill and Mustard but ultimately Ricch was hailed the next big rapper for the decade that was coming.

    Well, that decade is here now and anyone who said that is right. Before this album his biggest hit was with Nipsey Hussle on his last single released before his passing, Racks In The Middle. Less than a month into the decade, Ricch has now eclipsed that twice, with Mustard on Ballin and with album opener The Box. 

    The Box has been a runaway hit particularly in the US. It’s spent two weeks at #1 blocking Justin Bieber's Yummy and Drake and Future’s Life Is Good from the summit in their first week. In Australia, it’s entered the top 10 and is predicted to keep climbing after leaping more than 10 spots in this week’s chart. On Spotify, it’s the second most played song in the world while on Apple Music it’s at the top. Basically, it’s massive. But why?

    The song actually isn’t even an official Ricch single. Three other songs from the album have been released as singles before and it hasn’t been given video treatment yet. Ricch’s skyrocket to the summit has instead been fan-led. TikTok, which gave hits by Lil Nas X and Lizzo a large push last year, has been on board with The Box, particularly fascinated by the “eeh-eer” sounds at the beginning of the song. This meme, in particular, has been liked nearly 1 million times on TikTok and was taken across to Twitter where it’s now got 50,000 retweets. 

    It’s also inspired a viral dance challenge which often spreads a song like wildfire in the TikTok era. Early in December, Ricch took another social video app Triller to upload a dance of The Box but it looked like he was playing around instead of intentionally attempting to kickstart a viral movement. He told the LA Times that he gives no thought to the virality of a song when he writes it and it’s easy to believe him. The Box doesn’t instantly strike you as meme-able material particularly when you consider the caption-ready quotables of Lizzo Truth Hurts or the yeehaw agenda behind Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road.

    When asked about its quick success by Billboard, Ricch responded, “Nobody ever really plans this.”

    “You can’t run from it. You gotta kind of just let it happen. To this point, I really just been doing the same shit: going to the studio and really just trying to stay focused on what it is I started,” he continued.

    By the sounds of it, those sounds at the beginning that kicked off the viral movement were also not overly thought about. Ricch’s A&R Keefa Black shared the story of how it came to be on Twitter noting that the rapper had declared the song finished before deciding he had to add the cherry on top.

    “You can only imagine my face when roddy already finished the song and said “Wait let me add something” & EHH ERRR,” he wrote. 

    Away from the TikTok world, Ricch is also forming a strong contingent of celebrity fans. Meek Mill was already a big champion of the rapper but there’s been plenty more since then. Late last year, Rihanna co-signed Out Tha Mud jamming to it in a video she uploaded to Instagram. DaBaby has tweeted expressing a desire to work with him while Rico Nasty gave love to The Box on Instagram. Even Justin Bieber, who he beat to number 1, gave love to Ricch writing, “love the song,” on Twitter. 

    The love is only going to continue for the rest of the year. This Sunday, he’s up for three Grammy awards for his work on Hussle’s Racks In The Middle. He’ll also perform as part of a tribute to the late rapper. He’s currently embarking on a sold out tour of the US in support of the album and in April, he’ll drop by Coachella to play his first ever solo set at the festival. The Box will likely be a soundtrack to festivals all over the world. 

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Roddy Ricch

The world has caught Roddy Ricch fever. This time last year the Compton MC was barely known outside of rap circles and now he’s had the most streamed song in the world with The Box. Last year, he dropped his debut album Please Excuse Me For Being Anti-Social awarding him his first number one record in the US. The record had big support from masters like Meek Mill and Mustard but ultimately Ricch was hailed the next big rapper for the decade that was coming.

Well, that decade is here now and anyone who said that is right. Before this album his biggest hit was with Nipsey Hussle on his last single released before his passing, Racks In The Middle. Less than a month into the decade, Ricch has now eclipsed that twice, with Mustard on Ballin and with album opener The Box. 

The Box has been a runaway hit particularly in the US. It’s spent two weeks at #1 blocking Justin Bieber's Yummy and Drake and Future’s Life Is Good from the summit in their first week. In Australia, it’s entered the top 10 and is predicted to keep climbing after leaping more than 10 spots in this week’s chart. On Spotify, it’s the second most played song in the world while on Apple Music it’s at the top. Basically, it’s massive. But why?

The song actually isn’t even an official Ricch single. Three other songs from the album have been released as singles before and it hasn’t been given video treatment yet. Ricch’s skyrocket to the summit has instead been fan-led. TikTok, which gave hits by Lil Nas X and Lizzo a large push last year, has been on board with The Box, particularly fascinated by the “eeh-eer” sounds at the beginning of the song. This meme, in particular, has been liked nearly 1 million times on TikTok and was taken across to Twitter where it’s now got 50,000 retweets. 

It’s also inspired a viral dance challenge which often spreads a song like wildfire in the TikTok era. Early in December, Ricch took another social video app Triller to upload a dance of The Box but it looked like he was playing around instead of intentionally attempting to kickstart a viral movement. He told the LA Times that he gives no thought to the virality of a song when he writes it and it’s easy to believe him. The Box doesn’t instantly strike you as meme-able material particularly when you consider the caption-ready quotables of Lizzo Truth Hurts or the yeehaw agenda behind Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road.

When asked about its quick success by Billboard, Ricch responded, “Nobody ever really plans this.”

“You can’t run from it. You gotta kind of just let it happen. To this point, I really just been doing the same shit: going to the studio and really just trying to stay focused on what it is I started,” he continued.

By the sounds of it, those sounds at the beginning that kicked off the viral movement were also not overly thought about. Ricch’s A&R Keefa Black shared the story of how it came to be on Twitter noting that the rapper had declared the song finished before deciding he had to add the cherry on top.

“You can only imagine my face when roddy already finished the song and said “Wait let me add something” & EHH ERRR,” he wrote. 

Away from the TikTok world, Ricch is also forming a strong contingent of celebrity fans. Meek Mill was already a big champion of the rapper but there’s been plenty more since then. Late last year, Rihanna co-signed Out Tha Mud jamming to it in a video she uploaded to Instagram. DaBaby has tweeted expressing a desire to work with him while Rico Nasty gave love to The Box on Instagram. Even Justin Bieber, who he beat to number 1, gave love to Ricch writing, “love the song,” on Twitter. 

The love is only going to continue for the rest of the year. This Sunday, he’s up for three Grammy awards for his work on Hussle’s Racks In The Middle. He’ll also perform as part of a tribute to the late rapper. He’s currently embarking on a sold out tour of the US in support of the album and in April, he’ll drop by Coachella to play his first ever solo set at the festival. The Box will likely be a soundtrack to festivals all over the world. 

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