RiFF RAFF recently spoke about his life, upbringing and goals in a XXL article. The publication allowed RiFF to tell his own story to Jeff Weiss and the piece was published using RiFF’s usual writing style: every letter is capitalized except for i.
“GROWiNG UP, i WAS ALWAYS AROUND EVERYBODY FROM SWiSHAHOUSE,” RiFF says in the piece. “i’VE KNOWN OG RON C FOR 14 YEARS, AND HE USED TO BE MY MANAGER. i KNOW PAUL WALL AND SLiM THUG—THEY’RE ON “HOW TO BE THE MAN” ON NEON iCON. i NEVER SAiD OR CLAiMED TO BE A GANGSTA. i NEVER DiD ANYTHiNG BUT FREESTYLE, AND NOW i’M WRiTiNG SONGS AND MAKING ALBUMS. i’VE NEVER CLAiMED OR SAiD THAT i’M FROM HOUSTON EVEN THOUGH i WAS BORN AND LiVED THERE. i’M NOT TRYING TO REPRESENT FOR ANYONE BUT MYSELF.
“i ALWAYS KNEW i WAS DESTiNED FOR GREATNESS BECAUSE GREATNESS iS WiTHiN,” he continues. “i MOVED TO L.A. FROM HOUSTON A FEW YEARS AGO BECAUSE OF THE HOLLYWOOD LiFE: FAST CARS, WHiTE SAND BEACHES AND BiKiNiS GALORE. i DiDN’T HAVE TO MOVE FROM HOUSTON TO BLOW UP. i JUST ALWAYS WANTED TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE SEVEN SEAS AND BE A WORLDWIDE VERSACE GLOBETROTTER.”
Beyond speaking about himself as a “Versace globetrotter,” RiFF also considers himself a “worldwide icon,” which he addresses when speaking about his deal with Diplo’s Mad Decent.
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“i SiGNED TO MAD DECENT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T A RAP LABEL,” he says. “THEY HAVE MORE OF A NEON GLOBAL OUTLOOK JUST LiKE ME. i DON’T WANT TO BE STUCK iN A RAP SCENE WHERE i’M NOT REALLY ACCEPTED (NOT THAT i CARE). BUT LET’S BE HONEST. i’M MORE OF A WORLDWiDE iCON THAN A ‘RAPPER.'”
RiFF goes on to explain that his relationship with Diplo goes beyond the music industry.
“ME AND DiPLO ARE FRiENDS,” he says. “THAT’S ALWAYS GOOD WHEN YOU’RE DOING MUSiC; YOU DON’T WANNA BE AROUND PEOPLE WHO YOU DON’T GET ALONG WiTH. i MEAN, JUST RiGHT NOW, i SENT DIPLO A VERSE FOR OUR NEW SONG AND HE WAS LiKE, ‘DANG THIS iS THE BEST EVER.’ i WAS LIKE, ‘LET’S GO THROW PiZZA AT PEOPLE FROM THE HOTEL BALCONY.'”
RiFF RAFF’s debut album NEON iCONis in stores now. Critic Jesse Fairfax gave the album a 1 out of 5 in his review for HipHopDX. Despite this, RiFF RAFF earned a 3.8 out of 5 in the DX user rating for the album.
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RELATED: RiFF RAFF – NEON iCON – [Review]
