Open Letter to Rich Boy

To Marece Benjamin Richards,

I was pulling for you. Your fellow XXL Freshman Classmate Lupe Fiasco has gone platinum with one of his best, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool (and his debut went gold). He’s currently teaching a course at MIT. Best Rap Album potential artist Pusha T acknowledged you in his song, If You Know You Know from his album Daytona (2018). Now, you’re out here with loppers getting arrested for alleged offenses against your parents. What happened?

At one point while listening to your debut album, I felt an alternately visceral and cerebral sense when you mentioned warriors fighting in Iraq. While most rappers in 2007 were concerned with ringtone sales, you were focused on the idea of connecting the art form to what was going on around you.

One of my favorite lines was about how a million dollars doesn’t get you much these days. The truth-telling exceeded my expectations for you. You, however, let down the people of Alabama, the hip hop world and yourself.

You had the chance to take over the game. Everything was lined up for you. Polow da Don represented a staunch producer and supporter in your camp. You could enlist leri Hilson to feature on a track without a moment passing by.

Your flow was almost garbled by your Southern-fried accent. But your lyrics painted portraits of a man of color in America who just came into money.

With the advent of the shift from CDs to steaming services, you were primed to elevate your business and art in tandem. Instead, you’re in 2022 brandishing gardening tools like it's cool.

By not taking the rap game seriously, you missed the opportunity to reach these minds out here with your unique sound and innovative lyrics. If you wish to see the day where you can revive your career, pay attention.

Drop Polow and do a complete album with Hit-Boy. Once you secure this album, feature no guests: singers, rappers or both. Next, take all of the raps you have stored in your brain and just make a five to ten album plan. Then, when you have succeeded at building a body of work, as for your publishing and master recordings. Finally, license those songs and albums to television shows, movies, and video games, and the Metaverse.

We’re miles away from 2007. It’s a brave new world, Mr. Richards. As you have stated in an interview, you view the music world as a “melting pot.” You sought to combine rap with country on a grand scale. Lil’ Nas X beat you to it. You wished to integrate rap with electronic. I’m sure you know of Flo Rida who released at around the same time as you.

This game is all about reinvention. What you ought to do is take your skill set and expand on the block. If you wish to hop back in hip hop, you should be able to take the blueprint of other rappers and singers who bounced back after adversity. Everyone from Chris Brown to T.I. have resurfaced after legal issues.

To take care of this latest run-in with the law would mean you could make one of the largest comeback stories of all-time. Once you recognize the time it takes for someone like you who clearly has talent to do away with the “hood banger” maker moniker from over a decade ago to a stellar artist, you will know victory.

I know that you’ve still got gas in the tank. All you need to do is show that you can turn the key and get that Caddy going. And don’t worry. I won’t mind if you throw some D’s on your career.