Rich Boy

After enrolling as a mechanical engineering student at Tuskegee University, Mobile, Alabama rapper Rich Boy, born Maurice Richards, first pursued a music career. Up to that point he had treated beat-making as an after-hours hobby, yet he ultimately left campus, issued several self-released recordings, and watched them gain traction in his hometown. Atlanta-based producer Polow, whose résumé already included Ludacris, Jamie Foxx, and Fergie, was sufficiently impressed to bring the MC to his studio, where the pair refined new material. The sessions led to a deal with Interscope and the start of work on a debut album. In the interim Rich Boy appeared on a Disturbing tha Peace compilation assembled by Ludacris and surfaced on various mixtapes, among them Da Bottom, Vol. 5, assembled by DJ Ideal and Jermaine Dupri. He and DJ Drama issued the Bring It to the Block mixtape near the end of 2006, followed by the self-titled official album in March 2007. The 2013 LP Break the Pot featured Maino, Hemi, and Bobby V and was preceded by the Back to Class mixtape. Two years later the album Featuring arrived with an extensive guest list that included the Game, Curren$y, Trinidad James, and Yelawolf.