Life is to be lived. Within it, opportunities can present themselves out of nowhere, but the most important step is to take initiative. In the case of someone like Tallahassee, Fla. rapper Real Boston Richey, rap was never a route he would've entertained until it was at his doorstep. Originally motivated to rhyme by his late cousin, Richey was then nudged by his friend Corey to come to a studio session. That was only 10 months ago, and Richey has already found supporters in Future and Young Scooter. He's also locked down a Lil Durk verse to add to the follow-up of Richey's breakthrough song "Keep Dissing."
Real Boston Richey has gotten to this point because his sound is different. Think Florida rap slang and built in cadences with the beats and competitive flair of Detroit hip-hop. Judging by nearly 10 million views on the Durk-assisted "Keep Dissing 2" music video in just a month, hip-hop continues to have room for acts trying something new.
Real Boston Richey's unique sound and energy lends to him sticking out in a competitive space when Florida rap is so huge. Add in that Tallahassee hasn't had a big act since T-Pain, and Richey's rise is even more fascinating. His first song, "Big YIC," released in 2021, was the track he made in that aforementioned studio session, but he already showed promise. The Midwestern rap production didn't have the full potential yet, though Richey's confidence and tendency to let every line land before he moves on made his music hit harder than other artists out at the moment. By the time he dropped "Keep Dissing" in March of this year—a song he was paying local DJs to spin until it eventually got leaked—he was more fully formed.
Florida rap has a tendency to highlight the dangers of the street frankly. Despite that, something is very new about Richey's approach to it. The way he layers ideas and punchlines is similar to late 2010s New York rap while his flows are loyal to his home base. In addition to that, he continued dropping songs after the success of "Keep Dissing," and is on the verge of having another huge song in "Certified Dripper." Popularized on social media through the use of the song's first four bars—"Bad bitch getter/Real rich nigga/Hellcat whipper/Certified dripper"—there are over 200 million TikToks that feature his lyrics.
As his career begins to take off, Real Boston Richey joined last week's episode of The Break: Live to talk about embracing Tallahassee and working through the city's music scene, Future FaceTiming him and how it feels to have so much momentum after rapping for less than a year. Check out the interview below.
Follow Real Boston Richey on SoundCloud and Instagram.
Standouts:
"Keep Dissing"
"Big YIC"
"Certified Dripper"
"Keep Dissin 2"
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