Disco de Rich Boy: “Rich Boy”

When I looked at the Billboard Hot 100 and noticed that Rich Boy's "Throw Some D's" was making moves, I wondered who he was, but then I thought that maybe I didn't want to know. And after listening to that song as well as his self-titled debut, I wish I'd trusted that instinct.

As usual, I agree with Norfeest and Musac Critic's respective reviews. The production on this album is pretty on-point for the most part, but the thing is, this isn't an instrumental album. Thus, the problem is that Rich Boy really ain't that great of a rapper. I never liked "Throw Some D's"; however, it's still better than a lot of the other songs, like "The Madness" and "Get to Poppin'".

There are also a few songs whose subject matter seems to change in the middle of them. "Let's Get This Paper" appears to be a political song, but then every verse ends with "let's go get this paper". And the disgusting "Touch That A**" has the first verse suddenly ending with quickly mentioning a hater followed by a round of shots. What does that even have to do with the song?

Guest stars don't fare very well either. I have no idea what John Legend and Big Boi are doing on this album, but surprisingly, their contributions on the respective tracks "Ghetto Rich" and "And I Love You" really aren't that great (and the latter isn't helped by Pastor Troy being wack as usual). Mark Twain (???) fails to impress on "Gangsta"; and if you think YoungBloodZ's Sean Paul will save "What It Do", you'll be disappointed because he only appears during the chorus. And the obligatory end-of-album remix-of-the-first-single contains the weird combination of Lil Jon, Andre 3000, Jim Jones, Murphy Lee, Rick Ross and the Game.

As I stated earlier, well-produced tracks are ruined by sub-par lyricism, like "Role Models" and especially "Hustla Balla Gangsta Mack" (but "On the Regular" sounds like a wannabe Jazze Pha song). Rich Boy doesn't really have enough skills to have a lasting impression, so I wouldn't suggest picking this album up.

Anthony Rupert

Rich Boy's eponymous debut album was released in March so I'm quite late on it and since alot of others already wrote good reviews I'll make it short and compact. Alabama native Rich Boy (Maurice Richards) had a big hit #6 with his single "Throw Some D's" that was produced by super producer Polow Da Don that also produced the majority of the album, hence the title. The song samples "I Call Your Name" a hit for Switch in 1979. The song is basically about throwing away money and cruising in his ride and acting cool. Even if the song itself is quite explicit it's the absolute standout on this album and was too irressistable to not become a hit. Unfortunately too many songs on this album deal with materialism to the point that it feels redundant. However, the production is mostly on point and Rich Boy who is a decent rapper got this distinctive southern drawl that is sometimes hard to understand but quite charismatic. "Good Things" a Hip Hop ballad with talented Keri Hilson is another standout and sounds alot to "Runaway Love" also from Polow. However Polow who's a pretty good Mc overshines Rich Boy on this one and it makes you wonder who's the guest artist on this one?. Keri appears again on the reggae inspired "Lost Girls" where they sing "get up stand up for your right" and John Legend gives his usual performence on "Ghetto Rich". Both alright. A song called "Role Models" with David Banner we find Rich Boy once again demoted to guest status while second single "Boy Looka Here" is rather forgettable and "On the Regular" deserved a better fortune with really bad lyrics. Timbaland clone Brian Kidd got a few songs sandwiched between all of the Polow cuts but they're nothing special and neither is Lil Jon's "What It Do". But the almost unlistenable "Touch that A**" takes the price for worst song.

So let's sum up this album. Rich Boy isn't the worst Mc I heard but his lyrics are embarrasing and thankfully (or unfortunately for him) he gets overshadowed by guests on almost every song and sometimes his bad lyricism is saved cause of good guest while other times he almost feels like a guest on his own album. He does have a decent flow, but very few of the songs offer anything interesting. Like aformentioned it's mostly about materialism or women. If you liked "Throw Some D's" it may not be said that you like alot of other songs cause most of them sound very diffrent, even if Polow Da Don produced all but 5. Having said that, I don't think this is the last thing we heard from Rich Boy but if he's going to release another album he can't just rely on solid production and guests and he must find some better ideas to rap about. 2'5 stars.

Rich Boy. A lot can be said about this very young emcee, who generated a buzz last year by utilizing then under-used producer, Polow Da Don, on the massive single, Throw Some D's. Similar in vein to T.I.'s What You Know, Throw Some D's was a Southern anthem that got a lot of heads anticipating the release of Rich Boy's debut. It's not very often in hip-hop nowadays where an emcee comes literally out of nowhere to generate a buzz; most rappers today get their promotion from an abundance of mixtapes, but Rich Boy was rather silent before releasing his debut single. His rapping on the track wasn't anything out of the ordinary; no one's going to listen to a dude named Rich Boy, expecting him to drop knowledge all over a track. Most Southern hip-hop albums in this day are blessed with bass-pumping production that could get even the most lethargic heads to get up, and throw some 'bows; it all comes down to if the rapper blessed with them is capable enough not to screw up the album. Some rappers coast on their beats alone, such as Young Jeezy, and their lyrics merely become an after thought. Some, such as T.I., use this top-tier production as a launchpad for their lyrics, getting the fans drawn to the album with the high-budget production, but taking them for a journey lyrically. Then, some rappers, such as Chingy, are given hot beats, and totally massacre them with weak flows, and inane rhymes. Rich Boy, for the most part, falls into the Young Jeezy category.

Rich Boy is a bit more clever on the mic than the Snowman, though not by much. His production is equally hot; the bulk of this album is done by Polow Da Don, who, after this album and Young Buck's latest single, is destined to become one of the "IT" producers in the industry. Where Rich Boy succeeds that Jeezy fails, musically, is the cohesiveness found on this album; due to the large number of tracks produced by Polow, this album flows together remarkably well, instead of going for a mixtape format that just feels all over the place; something that seriously hurt Jeezy's last album, The Inspiration. Rich Boy also manages to find SOME important issues to tackle, even if he doesn't encounter them in the best way possible; still, his effort is comendable, and songs like "Lost Girls" are welcome in an album most people expected to be The Inspiration 2.1 with a different host.

The amount of potential singles on this album is quite overwhelming; while none of them have the same banging production as Throw Some D's, tracks such as Boy Looka Here, And I Love You, Get To Poppin', Touch That ***, and especially What It Do, which is produced by a reenergized Lil' Jon, all possess the potential to cross-over to a larger audience. Other tracks, such as the aforementioned Lost Girls, and the true album closer, Let's Get This Paper(a track that is very Jeezy-esque, but still manages to succeed) show that Rich Boy isn't a one trick pony, even if he doesn't step out of his comfort zone "On The Regular." Not every track on this album is a winner, but Rich Boy's often intoxicating flow, and Polow's trunk-rattling production will often draw you into the album far enough to make you forget its flaws.

Rich Boy definitely has a lot of room to grow, but that isn't a bad thing at all. For a debut release, Rich Boy's eponymous album is what most heads were hoping for; an album with hot production, and an emcee who doesn't manage to screw it up. Rich Boy can certainly become a formidable, and respectable rapper within time, but for now, this self-titled album will tithe critics and fans over, while also giving us a glimpse of the future. Pick it up.

I'll state the obvious. Rich Boy's southern twang is so thick that its hard to understand what he is saying sometimes. This album has more bad tracks than good tracks so let me focus on the good then the bad. Standout Tracks: Throw Some Ds is a catchy first single that I didnt like at first and the remix with Andre 3000(he had the best verse on here), Nelly, Murphy Lee, The Game is a lot better than the original. Boy Looka Here is an alright second single plus I like how the beat breaks down. And I Love You had potential to be a great track till Pastor Troy delivers a crappy verse on it but Big Boi held it down on here. Lost Girls and Ghetto Rich(featuring John Legend) are two tracks that are worth hearing plus any song of substance I'll give credit for. Filler: Rich Boy pulls a Rick Ross and has way too many chick songs on here like What It Do, Good Things, Touch That A**(the worst out of all of them) and On The Regular. Role Models is weak and so is the fillerific Hustla Balla Gangsta Mack and Gangsta. Get To Poppin has to be the worst plus I've heard Pitbull spit over that same horrible beat(and that track sucked too). Bottom Line: 6 good songs are a good enough reason to skip this album. Yeah it might have some catchy cuts but the album is packed to the rim with skip material.

It works fine, I love their music and had it sent out to my APO where it was a pain to try to download music