Since signing his deal with So So Def, Royce Rizzy has been making waves in the industry with major success from his hit single “Gah Damn” and latest project Pre Rolled as well as working with major artist Wiz Khalifa, Da Brat and Lil Scrappy. Now the young artist is focusing on his independent grind with his team Private Club Records and is ready to surprise the world with an arsenal of new talent.
Tell me about your record deal.
I signed a joint deal with RCA and So So Def. RCA handles distribution and Jermaine Dupri is my management. The label helped me a lot because they put a lot of money into the success of my single “Gah Damn”. I was able to really build my fan base and use their resources to my advantage. Now I’m starting my own independent label called Private Club Records.
What new projects are you working on?
My collective Private Club is my main priority right now. The collective consists of the first lady Salma Slims, Noah Woods, Madeintyo, and Phin Thaweirdo. We’re going on tour at the end of October and really just building the brand right now. I’m also working on my follow up tape Pre Rolled 2 that will be releasing soon.
What has been your favorite collaboration thus far?
I’ve had a few collabs that I had a lot of fun with. My best collabs so far would have to be “The Hoe in You” ft Wiz Khalifa, “No More” ft Da Brat and my first big remix for “Body Bag” ft. Lil Scrappy, Young Buck, Tom G, Princess & Young Breed. These songs really did a lot for me in terms of gaining a fan base. Like how many upcoming artists can say they got a song with Da Brat. That’s wild! [Laughs]
Where do you get your style?
To be honest, I don’t even know bro. I’m still trying to figure out my sound and how to tailor it to my strengths. Growing up my favorite artist were Jadakiss and Fabolous. I also listened to a lot of J.Cole when he first came out so I was real into the East Coast style of music. When I moved to Atlanta in 2009, all I was hearing was Travis Porter and Gucci and I realized people here weren’t on that sound for real so I had to adapt my music to what people were listening too. Now I’m just focused on making good music. Once I hear the beat I just let the words flow out.
What advice do you have for upcoming artist trying to break into the industry?
The most important advice I would give is to create your own lane and run with it. If you know your lane you can’t lose. Never try and create music for anybody else, do it for yourself. For me when I first started I gave into the hype and tried to make records for the people and labels. Now I’m focused on music that I enjoy. For anybody reading his interview do what makes you happy. If the music is good the people will love it regardless, it’s the artist’s job to be the influencer not the other way around.
What future goals do you have in the music industry?
Goal wise I just want to see everyone in my collective build his or her own fan bases. I want everyone to have their own wave and doing shows all of the world. If I can see my family and friends be successful and maneuver how they want to while staying independent I’d be happy. I want them to avoid the situations I had to go through in this music industry.
What is your most memorable performance?
Oh that’s a good question. I have three that have been the best so far. The first one is when Lil Scrappy brought me out at Sisters Only. I free styled for 4,000+ people acapella and killed it! The second one is when I performed with Juicy J in St. Pete, “Gah Damn” went wild out there. I was in the crowd smoking everybody’s tree and just vibing with the fans. It was real dope. The last one is my favorite so far. I was on the A3C stage with Lil Scrappy two years ago when “Gah Damn” first came out. We were killing the stage and on the last 808 drop the stage broke! We just kept performing like nothing happened and the crowd was going nuts, that shit was crazy. [Laughs]
Tell me about your performance at A3C this year?
This year I’m taking A3C a lot more serious. I’m on several different showcases and I’m bringing the whole Private Club team with me. We’re trying to shut A3C down for real and spread our energy throughout the whole city.