https://www.facebook.com/RLand91/

By SHAWNA HAMMONS HELLER Times Reporter | 0 comments
David Ratliff said growing up in Montpelier, he got into a lot of fights and admits that he didn’t really know how to control his aggression.
That was until he was able to sit down and listen to Eminem’s music.
“I wasn’t allowed to listen to Eminem at all growing up,” explained Ratliff. He said he sneaked into his mother’s room one day and downloaded one of the rapper’s songs onto her computer. “Once I finally listened to him, I heard how he could write about tragic incidences that were going on in his life and I decided to try it.”
Ratliff, who goes by the moniker R-Land in the underground hip hop and R&B scene, has recently completed a project with rapper Ca$his. He’s featured on the song “Ima Ride” on Ca$his’ album “The County Hound 3.”
He said Rikanatti, a producer at Eminem’s record label Shady Records, as well as at Ca$his’ Bogish Brand Entertainment, listened to Ratliff’s music and contacted him.
“The first time he heard ‘2 Soon,’ he told me he never heard an underground rapper rap like that before,” said Ratliff, explaining that he posted a 34-second clip of the song on YouTube. “He offered me a chance to be on the project ‘Ima Ride.’”
Rikanatti said Ratliff contacted him on Twitter for some beats. Rikanatti obliged and by the next day Ratliff had written a verse and song.
“I was impressed with his work ethic,” said Rikanatti. “I like his aggressiveness on the mic and his willingness to tell the truth in the booth. He has a bright future.”
He also helped Ratliff remaster “2 Soon,” which was released in December, and another song called “Home-Run” that was just released last month. Both are available on iTunes.
“It is a lot of hard work and you have to have a lot of material,” Ratliff said. “You have to completely flood the Internet with your music because you never know who’s paying attention.”
He also said that knowing how to use Facebook, Twitter, iTunes and other music and social media sites and apps is imperative, noting there’s a lot work that goes into that aspect of the business.
R-Land is currently working on an EP titled “The Confessions” to be released later this year, and is lining up more features with Ca$his, as well as with rappers E-40 and and Obie Trice.
Last summer, Ratliff performed live for over 4,000 people at the OG Hip Hop BBQ Festival in Perrysburg. He said it happened by chance when there was a power surge, leaving two of the three stages at the festival without power.
“It was myself and R&B singer Emanie,” he explained. “We were supposed to perform on one of the smaller stages but they gave us a chance to perform on the main stage, which had the LED lights going crazy and the crowd going crazy because no other stage was running.”
Ratliff said they ended up being one of five out of about 32 artists selected to take the main stage and open for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. He also remembers that rapper Bone Crusher and the crowd loved their song “Wait For Me,” which Ratliff wrote.
“I was nervous at first,” he said of the show. “I was standing there watching the other acts, hoping we could live up to what Bone Crusher and Layzie Bone wanted, especially hype-wise.”
His first live show was several months before that, when he performed for about 200 people at a small theater in Cleveland.
“I remember performing ‘Home-Run’ and everybody just couldn’t get enough of that song,” said Ratliff, adding that even though he was not the headliner, the crowd wanted him to keep performing.
He says the inspiration for his music comes from the struggles of everyday life. Ratliff started his life in Cleveland and was later adopted by Deb Ratliff of Bryan. While he spent much of his childhood in Williams County, he ended up finishing his education at Paulding High School because he said he and his mother were not on speaking terms.
“I moved out of my mother’s house when I was 17 and had a child, a little girl,” he said. “A guy named Al gave me a place to live in exchange for doing a little bit of work for him because he owned two gas stations and cleaned and fixed up rental houses.”
Even though he said it was really tough at times, he was able to continue going to school and earn his diploma.
“I had so many people tell me I wasn’t going to graduate, so I had to prove them wrong,” he added.
Ratliff now lives in Jackson, Mich., and works as a home health aid. He is planning a live show for next month. Find his music on iTunes and Spotify and check him out on Facebook and Twitter.
sheller@bryantimes.com
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More online:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/2-soon-single/id947511295
http://tinyurl.com/qxgvykg
https://www.facebook.com/RLand91
https://twitter.com/davidratliff91 - SHAWNA HAMMONS HELLER