Riff-Raff
Baltimore, Maryland, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
1999-- N.I.V. (New Improved Vessel)
2001 -- Generation X
2002 -- My Life, My City, My Block.
2003 -- Hip-Hop Songs 4 Worship
2004 -- State Of Mind
2005 -- The Outcome (Featuring ASON)
2006 -- Riff-Raff Presents... Holy Hip-Hop Unleashed (compilation)
2007 -- A Hustlers Reality
2008 -- REACH
2010 -- EMPOWERMENT
Photos
Bio
Good artists create hot songs, with beats you can dance to, and rhymes you can remember.
Great artists, however, create a sound, they have a point of view, they're on a mission.
If you didnt know that before, you will definitely know that now, once you catch any of the creative work of Shawn Riff-Raff Broadnax.
And its a new vibe, indeed. Combining all the artistic influences that have defined him as a performer, hip-hop fan, artist and producer over the years, Riff-Raff has done something artists always tell you they intend to do, but rarely actually accomplish: Hes taken it to the next level, creating a sound that might best be described as New Wave meets-Hip-hop, old school, electro-pop with a urban street beat. Like hip-hop has always been, its a riveting mix of the new and the old. But Riff-Raff, along with great producers like Brandon "Bheat" Broadnax, does something with the music cutting edge of musical forms; its sounds like nothing youve ever heard before, massaging the ear as passionately as it makes you dance.
I originally started rapping and producing records cause I wanted to make people feel me, he says. And Ive been quietly working on this for the last two years, taking everything Ive learned over the years, from growing up in the 80s, to being out in the church in the 90s listening to hip-hop and watching how it affected my culture, to the 2000s, working with Penn Avenue. Add to that all the experience Ive had traveling and being exposed to all kinds of sounds, it was time to rekindle the thing I loved."
If you are to follow Riff-Raff's life and career over the past 12 or so years, you would see a person who was in and out of different businesses and places trying to find exactly what fit him the most. In 2007 Riff-Raff developed The Reach Movement (www.ReachMovement.com) which is a multi-media enterprise based around the idea that we should be using our talents to reach out and help others.
On the surface, Riff-Raff is a conquerors story, a tale of a young man who learned to survive by using two-bit scams, then learning what it took to build a real business empire. But underneath that, Riff-Raff is a dreamer, a helpless idealist whos balancing the dream-state of his passions with the passions of his dreams and visions coming true. In other words, what happens when you have access to everything you ever wanted and yet you still want to grow?
Which is why Riff-Raff might be the best possible name for this young man. Because what do you think about when someone says Riff-Raff? Riff says that he thinks that its when a young black man can use a system set up for him to fail, to ultimately win and give God the credit for it. Thats Riff-Raffs aim.
As long as it moves you. You know how you feel when one of my records comes on, Riff-Raff declares. You feel like you can just close your eyes, zone out, and go in to it. You know what Im sayin?
We do. We most certainly do.
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