Country to his core…Atlanta rapper Rittz has arrived on the Hip Hop scene, looking as though he pulled up on a Harley Davidson not in a Caprice. It’s been less than a week that his Strange Music LP, “The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant,” has been on the shelves and there’s no doubt this accomplishment has been a long time coming for the humble rapper. Rittz has never been the one to ride the wave, since the days of his youth he’s been content doing his own thing. He found himself pursuing rap although it wasn’t the norm in his small town of Gwinnett but for him it was about creativity and expression. Rittz poured more dedication into perfecting his craft than anything else and at times when it seemed nearly impossible to make a career out of his love for Hip Hop he kept pushing.
AP aka Ms. F’nwrite of Hell Yeah F’n Write caught up with Rittz in the midst of managing his new schedule… between touring, his album release and interviews; Rittz is working at remaining faithful to the career he’s wanted for so long. As a southern gentleman would he apologizes for his hectic schedule and jumps right in ready to talk. In no way is Rittz selfish…he takes us on the Jonny journey, opening up about life after his parent’s separation, and how his upbringing shaped him as a rapper. Lastly, he even shares a few funny high school memories that are sure to entertain!
What are some of the misconceptions people have of you and why?
A lot of people think I’m a party animal…the stereotypical stuff that I rap about I must live every single day and that couldn’t be further from the truth. I talk about my past and things that I have done, so it’s pretty much my fault if people must judge me based off my music. And my look, I get judged a lot before I even speak! But the biggest misconception is that what I rap about I still do. I’m a normal person…I watch TV with my girlfriend, I cook dinner- I’m not a party animal.
You have the new album out, “The Life and Time’s Of Jonny Valiant,” what inspired the name of the album?
Well back in the day everybody was doing the alias thing. Tupac was ‘Makaveli,’everybody had there also known as…Big Boi of Outkast was ‘Sir Lucious Left Foot’ so back in the day I was Rittz a.k.a Jonny Valiant, my first name is Jonny. Before I got with Yelawolf I was going to put out an album locally called, “Rittz Jonny Valiant Vol. 0,” so I wanted to incorporate the Jonny Valiant name (I didn’t want to use my real last name) in this album to show that this is the life and times of me…It’s Jonny, a real personal look at what my life is about. I put out the White Jesus mixtape which was supposed to catch people off guard and spark up some conversation and controversy but it was time to stray away from that and give people a more personal side…this is my arrival.
What is the feeling of the album? What should we expect to experience?
The experience is very personal on the life of somebody struggling to be a musician. To sum it up the feeling is all about how to follow your dreams and still not be a loser. It’s basically about my struggle to follow my dream and the intro explains it from the jump…I went with that theme through the whole album. Knowing when to draw the line is so hard, you don’t want to live your life and not have or amount to anything, when do you give up and go get a job and work at being financially stable. I dealt with those thought a lot and the feeling is continuous throughout the album.
How has your upbringing helped to shaped you as an artist/ rapper?
A lot! My upbringing was really good, I have good parents who have always supported me as far as letting stay in the house, giving me a few bucks when I needed it (nothing major) like $20 here and there, I got a good family. But my mom and dad separated when I was 14 years old so from my freshmen year in high school all the way up until I was about 19 or 20, I didn’t have a dad around. That affected a lot of hostility and bad things that I got into around those times. Before that I had a pretty regular upbringing. When I moved to Atlanta around 7th grade, like most kids do at that age, I started acting up. Probably just trying to get attention now that I look back on it but my dad came back and things went back to normal but I was already far gone. On a positive note on my upbringing all my family is musicians, my dad and his 4 brothers are all musicians, they’ve forms so many bands…they’ve all tried to make it in the music business. I was raised around music! My brother is a musician…yeah it’s in us. But who would have known I would become a rapper…no matter their all really proud.
I read that you’re a twin…knowing that twins usually have very close bonds how have the two of you connected through your music?
I don’t know that we’ve really connected through music but I am really close to my sister, anytime I’ve had some bad happen in my life she’s had a feeling about it and vice versa, we have a bond…it’s just something about being a twin that’s really hard to explain. Every one of your birthday’s is shared, growing up together you share everything; my sister is literally my other half. My sister went much different route, she graduated from school and I didn’t, she went on to be a social worker and I’m a rapper (laughs). We’re totally different but the same at the same time.
Speaking of family, you’re now signed to Strange Music…How did that partnership come about and what makes it a good fit for you?
Well I became a part of ‘Strange’ because Yelawolf (who brought me into this whole situation I’m in now) did a song with Tech N9ne called “World Wide Choppers” so they came to Atlanta to work on that…he was already telling Tech, Chris Calico, others that worked at Strange about me and my so when I showed up at the studio is was kind of like they already knew who I was. Our personalities clicked from the jump and my manager had always wanted me to sign with ‘Strange’ anyway, he keeps his ear to the game and he saw what they were doing so he thought it would be a good fit. I wasn’t really familiar with the movement at the time because I’m not on the computer like that…I listen to like 3 rappers and I’ve done that for years. But once I started doing my homework on ‘Strange’ I saw that the label is so structured and successful for an independent. They make sure their artist are touring, selling merchandise, and not just sitting on the shelf like a lot of majors do. I’m given creative control, no one’s telling me we need a love song or a club song…they leave that up to you, they’re there to offer advice when needed. But for the most part it’s up to you. It’s perfect for me as far as my look and everything…we do what we want…it’s Strange Music! We’re on tour right now and the fans are the most loyal fans I’ve ever seen. You get people showing you that they’ve bought 2 and 3 copies of your CD, man the love is crazy.
How would you describe Rittz fan’s?
My fan’s…Rittz fan’s…Wow! They’re people that have gone through the same types of struggles I have, they understand the problems that come with day to day life, relationships, life issues, dropping out of school, drugs …they are people that have struggled a little bit so they can relate. Not struggled in the way of being broke but struggled with emotional issues growing up or struggled to make their dreams come true. My fan’s are just like me…as a matter of fact I get that all the time! People literally say to me that was my story in that song. I try to make music that people can relate to, the music that gives you goose bumps or makes a person say this song saved me.
You mentioned that you only listen to a handful of rappers, how are those rappers?
Jay Z, Eminem, Scarface, Eight Ball & MJG, Outkast, Devin The Dude…90’s rap, those are pretty much my staples but I’m a really big Jay Z and Eminem fan. Oh I also listen to Big Krit and Jelly Roll. It’s crazy but I’ve been listening to the same music for like 12 years now.
Considering your track titled, “Fuck Swag,” what are your thoughts about rappers who sell persona more than music?
I didn’t intentionally try to make a song to say fuck your swag or his swag, the song had the sample swag on it already so I was like what do I do with this. But at the same time, the word is used too much and in the wrong context…it has completing lost its meaning! It’s we need a new word. Plus, I see rappers and I can’t tell if they’re in a rock-n-roll band or what…in other words I just believe it’s cool to be different and be creative not follow the trend all the time. There used to be a time when you could tell when a rapper was from New York or LA but you can’t tell anymore because everybody is trying to have the same swag, like everybody is trying so hard to be different that they’re not even different, if that makes any sense. So now it’s different to be normal.
How does it feel to be a minority in Hip Hop, where the majority is made up of African American males?
It feels like there is more pressure to be better and do better but there isn’t as much pressure as it used to be. Now days everybody raps but in my opinion Hip Hop is a black culture, it always will be and should be. But no doubt as a white rapper it’s harder, I feel like if you’re going to be a white rapper then you need to be GOOD at it, you can’t be playing around being average. Now there have been some white rappers getting away with being average these days but in my opinion if you’re white you need to try to be better than the norm. Personally being a minority in the game puts pressure on me not to come whack because there is seriously no room for that.
With that said do you have any thoughts about homosexual rappers?
My take on it is…to each his own. Who cares! It’s not my place to judge anyone who has struggled to pursue their dream or career as a rapper. Rap is a competitive support but I’m not one to put anyone down to make myself look a certain way. As I said before I make music for people who have struggled to overcome something in their lives, all I care about is uplifting people I’m not trying to put anybody down because I don’t want that type of energy being brought to me.
Putting on the Rittz…
What was your favorite childhood game to play?
Probably doctor! (Laughter) Naw, I don’t know that’s a really hard one question! I guess I liked to box, we used to put on the boxing gloves…yeah that’s a good one!
What was the funniest thing you remember getting in trouble for in school?
Oh my GOD, I got a couple! I worst thing was I took a fake gun to school but it looked so real…it was heavy, fully chrome, it looked like a little 25. I carried it around trying to be all gangster, I was putting to people’s heads and making them take their shoes off. In my mind I was just fucking around but one of the bigger kids asked to hold it and it was acting like he was really sticking kids up. Teacher catches him with it and I’m telling him he better not tell that he got it from me. He gets taken to the office and the next thing I know I’m getting called to the office. They paneled me (it’s like the highest form of punish in school), I had to stand in front of the panel with my parents, it’s just like court! Likely I didn’t have to take the fall for that but I got the worst beating in my life! Oh one time I was walking through the hallway with my boys and I was like “oh shit do ya’ll smell some ass.” I knew the girl so I was just messing with her; I was kind of attracted to her…that’s a good way of flirting right!? Well a teacher wrote me up for saying it so I had to go in the administrators office who was a woman, she called my mother and said and I quote…I smell some ass. Yeah that one was pretty bad! I also got suspended for smoking weed in school; all the administrators searched my car and had their jackets over their noses…every day after that when I would come to school they would smell my fingers every day.
Finish this statement, “You know I finally made it because I brought …”
Man, I probably have the most boring answer to this ever…people will know that I made it when I start picking up my whole family in a limousine. I don’t think anybody in my family has ridden in a limo, so I’d pick them all up and we’d ride around all night. Now my real answer is I’d buy an outdoor oven, that’s so not rapperish…I’d build an outdoor kitchen! (Laughs)
Lastly, how do we stay connected with your music?
Twitter: @therealRITTZ Instagram: @Rittz and Facebook.com/RittzMusic
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