Artists On The Rise: Meet Richie Beanz
New York is one of the most inspiring places to be, a melting pot and a true artistic Mecca that should be experienced by many.
It is a place to follow your dreams and if you come from an immigrant family, you most likely will be able to achieve your “American Dream” , whatever that dream means for you.
We are glad to introduce you to one of our favorite New York City-based artist Richie Beanz.
As a songwriter, rapper, performer and incredible Dj, Richie is able to incorporate his passion for music and art in every aspect of his life by making it something permanent and essential to his existence.
Community, family, love, friendship and positivity are the fuel that drives him to constantly create, grow and evolve as a human.
We had the amazing opportunity to talk to Richie about his path and life career, enjoy the interview and make sure to listen to his music here. What first got you into music? What first got me into music was a couple kids from my neighborhood who were rappers would invite me to there homemade studio some nights and id play around and spit funny freestyles until one day I made an actual song for the hell of it and it was history from there
Are you from a musical or artistic family?
No, not really, I come from a real blue collar american dream immigrant family no one really follows the artistic life
Who are your biggest influences? My biggest hip hop musical influences are a lot of artists, but to name a few I’d say Redman , Boot Camp Clik , Kid cudi, Pharrell , Outkast , Cypress hill , Mobb deep , Wu-Tang , and so many more I could go on for days.
Describe your creative process when writing new music: I usually like to be alone or with just the engineer or producer. I am not really into crowds while I'm working , I like dope trippy cartoons playing in silence on the tv , sometimes I like to paint before I write or record just to get the creative juices flowing.
Your favorite track from your most recent project? Uuhhh i love all of them but I’d say track 2 on my latest mixtape “Selfish” produced by Mutant Joe.
What is your all-time favorite album? Definitely Man On The Moon. At the end of day , Kid Cudi was the first artist I heard speak about normal problems I could relate to.
What is your current favorite album?
There's this artist from St.Louis named Bari that I found out about through Smino and I've had his album MSTRGLSS on repeat since last summer
What's the greatest fear you've had to overcome to get where you are today? Greatest fear was being judged and not taken seriously for being a rap artist but now I can careless. I am who I am, I do what I do if you don't like it, I'm not for you.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be? The judgment people have on conscious and risk taking rappers. Nowadays not everyone wants to sound like everyone else.
If you could invite any three people, dead or alive, for dinner, who would they be and why?
I’d say Frank Sinatra , Quincy Jones , HR from Bad Brains. Frank because he is iconic first of all and I'd love to wear a dope suit and sit down with the guy on some classy shit. Quincy because he's a huge influence on me and I'd love to ask him questions on the industry and how he feels about music today. HR because Bad Brains is one of my favorite bands and I'd love to chop it up with him about punk music and show him my tunes. How have you been able to use social media during these unprecedented times? Are you finding that you use it even more to stay connected to fans and other musicians?
I’m using it more for sure! Social media has done a lot for me musically, meeting people around the globe because of it as much as I hate being on my phone it has done wonders for me
Do you have any advice for aspiring songwriters?
Just keep going , don't get caught up on the norm , stay true to yourself and don't be afraid to take chances.