Living Westcoast legend Richard “Richie Rich” Serrell returns to the limelight after a nearly five long years musical sabbatical.
On his just released aptly titled body of work, “Richard, Dubble R” continues to bless the masses with his reality fueled street narratives, delivered in that all-too-familiar raspy vocal tone. On the ten track opus, Rich enlists the help of a few of his homies and colleagues including Larry June, Young JR, Jane Handcock, E-40 and V. White of The Delinquents, in the game but in true actuality this audio affair is strictly about the man, the myth, himself.
Richie Rich first rose to prominence as the founding member of the popular Oakland, California, quintet, 415, back in the late eighties. The underground collective’s heralded debut, “41Fivin,” which spawned a succession of popular singles; “415,” “Groupie Ass Bitch,” and “Side Show,” is still considered, to this day, a Bay Area classic. It also sparked enough interest and fanfare to enable Rich with the opportunity of recording his first solo LP.
That project, “Don’t Do It,” with its brilliant title track, followed in 1990, and was an instantaneous success. Unfortunately, with triumph often comes tragedy, and while 415 were in the midst of signing with, then, indie giant, Priority Records, Rich was arrested for drug possession. For him, everything came to a complete standstill.
Upon his release from incarceration, Richie Rich quickly began building up his name again by appearing on high profile records from the likes of Tupac Shakur, who was one of his best friends till the very end, and the Luniz.
Soon thereafter, he found himself in the midst of a vicious bidding war, with Def Jam Records eventually coming out the victor. Rich’s, then, highly anticipated “Seasoned Veteran” bowed in November 1996, and was met with favorable reviews. The set’s second offering, “Do G’s Get To Go To Heaven?,” was dedicated to the memory of his fallen comrade, 2Pac. A follow-up release was recorded for the label, but due to problems with the company’s infrastructure at the time, it was ultimately shelved.
Enter 2024: With a semi-recently forged working friendship with proudly independent – still on the rise – Vallejo, CA, rap star, LaRussell, who hosted Dubble on the super energetic, “What We Doin!?,” also featuring P-Lo & MALACHI, which dropped back in June, has been at the forefront of this much needed, not to mention, long overdue Richie Rich re-introduction. 35 years removed since “Don’t Do It,” and Richard – available soon on all DSPs – sounds just as fresh, new and reinvigorated as ever before.
Purchase the album here: https://www.even.biz/r/richard
