B.Rich

MEET THE RAPPER: Benjamin Rich, better known as B.Rich, is a hip-hop artist striving to make a name for himself and his small city of Akron, Ohio.

His music career began in 2010 with another rapper named Young Man. The two dropped their first collaborative project, Barney and Friends, in early 2010. Later that year B.Rich and Young Man dropped their second project Spy vs. Spy. When B.Rich grew more serious and progressed as an artist he realized he need to embark on the solo road. In early 2011, B.Rich dropped his first solo project Higher Learning which helped establish his name as a solo artist.

Later in 2011, after spending 110 days in the orianna house, B.Rich found more success in his second solo project, Focused Living Young. After debuting the mixtape, as well as several videos for songs from the project, B.Rich joined a tour with Chevy Woods, another tour with Juicy J, another tour with Machine Gun Kelly and also performed at several showcases at South by Southwest in 2012.

Hip Hop Weekly recently caught up with the young rapper for a look at his background and update on his latest work.



HHW: Ohio’s an interesting place because of the location. You guys check for the East Coast, MidWest and South … who are some guys you grew up listening to?

B.RICH: That’s true, I’d definitely say we get a lot of influences, being in Ohio because we’re in the middle of everything. It’s a hard question because hip hop has eras, so I always say from [age] nine to 12 I was listening to certain stuff. But my teens was when I was most influenced, and that was with Mobb Deep and Nappy Roots. Outkast had a big influence on me. That’s when trap rap was getting big, too. Jeezy and Lil’ Wayne, Gucci [Mane], Jay Z, of course.

HHW: How would you describe your personal sound?

B.RICH: My sound is fresh. There’s a direction that a lot of rappers are going, especially with that trap rap and dance music, so I would say I have fresh sound in the game right now. I think my sound is MidWest, but a lot of people would say I have a Southern flavor to my music.

HHW: Are there a few tracks online that people can tune into to get a better feel of what you’re bringing to the game?

B.RICH: Oh yeah, definitely. My latest track would be “Draft Day,” which was inspired by a good friend of mine, Devin Smith, who played with the National Champions Buckeyes. He was just drafted to the New York Jets. The whole song was inspired from someone in the city doin’ something great — we don’t get a lot of that. We don’t have a lot of shine here. My next song I would say is “Inked.” It’s who I am at the end of the day, it’s a good single that I dropped to showcase my talent, wordplay and ability to rhyme. The third track would be “11:03pm.” It has a Biggie sample in the chorus, it’s a little slower and a more chill kind of track but I love the video for it.



HHW: You had a baseball scholarship back in the day and a friend who made it to the NFL. Would you be doin’ sports had you not chosen music?

B.RICH: I think definitely I’d be playing baseball. At sixteen I was just out of my sophomore year and I tried out for the Atlanta Braves. Obviously I was too young and still in school but that brought some attention my way. They actually paid for me to go down to this camp in Florida, but I got in trouble and wasn’t able to go.

HHW: The thing about Ohio is that it doesn’t always get the recognition for its contribution to hip hop. From guys like Kid Cudi, Stalley, Machine Gun Kelly and of course, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the state has given us some great music.

B.RICH: That’s definitely something we deal with and we’re aware of. We don’t really have anything flashy, our biggest cities are Cleveland and Cincinnati — they’re big cities, but it’s not a New York or Los Angeles. It’s a middle-class, hardworking area where people have to bust their ass to get what they got. That’s a great point, and we’re starting to get more attention, but it’s something we’ve always had to deal with.

HHW: Is there a pressure to help plant that Ohio flag in hip hop and make the state more of the hip hop conversation?

B.RICH: Definitely. Honestly, one of my biggest motivations is to be a part of the movement that plants that flag.

HHW: What’s the next things music fans from your state and beyond should look out for from you?

B.RICH: I just dropped my latest project, titled Visions. I’m really proud of this one. I made about 50 or 60 songs that I was able to narrow down, which was hard as hell, but there’s a lot of progression. I’ll be pushing that, dropping videos, so you’ll definitely get a lot of visuals. After that, I think I may drop my first album. I want my next project to be bigger and better.



Look for B.Rich to be a new face in the music industry in the years to come!

Follow on Twitter @FlyestWhiteGuy. For booking contact: BookBRich@Gmail.com - HipHopWeekly

Entertainment mogul, Tara Thomas Agency has made news by recently signing Rap Musician, Benjamin Rich (popularly called B. Rich) to its PR FIRM.

B. Rich, a hip-hop singer from the petite city of Akron, Ohio was born and brought up in the down side neighborhood popularly called “Goodyear Heights”, where Goodyear world headquarters is domiciled.

B. Rich, a 2007 graduate of East High School while growing up was fond of playing baseball which earned him accolades, including offer of scholarships to play at the college echelon. B. Rich’s hope of excelling in sports came to an abrupt end at age sixteen when he ran into troubles occasioned by a regrettable incident where his girlfriend committed suicide. This led to serious challenges he could not figure out and he consequently lost his scholarships, and was compelled to serve ten months term in a maximum security prison for juvenile offenders.

Despite these impediments, B. Rich remained undaunted as he ventured into the music industry He began creating his own music in 2010 in partnership with a friend of his called Young Man. The duo did their first joint venture “Barney and Friends” in the beginning of the year 2010.and dropped their next project “Spy vs. Spy” later that year.

As B. Rich discovered his talent he became more purposeful and decided to venture into the solo artist direction. His efforts paid off in the beginning of 2011, when he did his first solo project tagged “Higher Learning” This announced him as a solo artist. The success of this project propelled him to do his second solo project “Focused Living Young” same year, after staying 110 days in the “Orianna House”. After his debutant mix tapes, and a number of videos for songs from the project, the ebullient B.Rich connected a tour with Chevy Woods; He went on subsequent tours with Juicy J, and Machine Gun Kelly respectively.

In 2012 B. Rich also performed at numerous platforms at South by Southwest and in September of 2012 he put up his third solo project titled “Maxine Place”, which was released on Datpiff.com. This project hosted by Coast 2 Coast, facilitated B. Rich’s rise in publicity all over the country. B. Rich, during the summer of 2013, added “Maxine Place 2”, also hosted by Coast 2 Coast mix - tapes into his repertoire. B. Rich is expected to release his latest project titled "Visions" during the summer of 2015.It is projected that as B. Rich continues a meteoric advancement in his career he is bound to feature in tours, festivals, showcases which would ultimately build his record. As a rising Rap star, B. Rich does his utmost to make it through thick and thin and hopes that his story will be an inspiration to others.

For Interviews Contact Tara Thomas
Tarathomas@tarathomasagency.com - This is 50

B.Rich drops off a brand new video titled “Draft Day.” For the visuals he takes us to Ohio State and The Rubber Bowl in Akron. Check out all of his on BRich2FLY.com and be on the look out for the new mixtape Visions dropping late spring. - IAmCleveland

Featured video through out the site and social networks. - Hype Magazine

B.Rich is back with this latest mixtape titled Maxine Place. Some original cuts, some industry beats, and some bars for your enjoyment. I’ma tell y’all like this, don’t sleep. - HowFlyHipHop.com