Kid Rich describes his sound as “motivational trap” — relatable, real-life songs of perseverance and triumph.
But his newest track, “Im Sorry,” with its fast, soft-thumping beat and quick-march rap, was all fun from the moment of conception. He was in the studio with his manager and the manager’s son, 15 at the time, who makes beats.
“And he threw on this beat, and I just started freestyling, just playing around, being funny, and then I came up with the hook— ‘I’m sorry that I’m real. I’m sorry that I’m rich. I’m sorry.’”
I’m sorry that I’m sorry
F___ it make a sorry list,
I’m sorry that your girl love me
It’s like the most fun and least serious apology you ever heard.
Most of his songs have a “direct meaning,” revolving around themes of self-love and personal accountability. His motto, from his artist bio, is “Be the boss, secure your success, and never blame the world. Be grateful for the opportunity to strive for greatness.”
“Now they got this drill music stuff,” he said, “where it’s just all hate music. That’s what I call it. I like to make inspirational songs, where it’s coming from hard times and focusing on gratefulness, focusing on self love.”
For him, the wake-up call — his words for it — was a stretch in federal prison for a felony drug offense. What he learned from that, he says, is that time is “the most valuable resource” and success isn’t money.
That last lesson is, in fact, an ironic line “Im Sorry”: “Being rich don’t make you real.”
In his bio, he says that he “emerged from prison with a renewed focus on his music and his dreams.”
He meant that. He has, by his count, 2,000 unreleased songs, which he produces at the rate of one a day in his home studio. He also produces and engineers his own tracks and shoots and edits his own videos. The video for “Im Sorry” will be coming soon.
His creative process is listening repeatedly to a selection of beats, usually from 10 to 20, and then recording multiple hooks for each. He puts his ideas on a voice recorder and later works them into full songs. With this method, he always has potential tracks and concepts for collaborations and guest features.
“Im Sorry” sort of grew out of a collaboration. He was in the studio shooting a video for his manager, Art Miller. Art’s son, Kid Carter, creates and sells beats, and that day in the studio, playing around with a Kid Carter beat led to “I’m Sorry.”
“I don’t know what lifetime he lived before,” said Kid Rich, “but he’s good at making beats.” He gets beats from Kid Carter and turns them into songs.
Kid Rich has been recording music since he was 14 or 15, at first on CDs and, beginning about 2017, putting them out on the Internet. He has also been engineering for himself from an early age. He even trains music engineers.
“In my town, the saying is, if you record Kid Rich, you could record anybody, because I know exactly what I want. I know all the different programs, I know everything and I do everything.”
His next song, “Lit,” and a 10-track album, Thug Theory, will be out in April. “Lit” will be on the album, but “Im Sorry” will remain a single.
“‘Lit’ is more like a pop song,” he said. “It has more like a club or party vibe.”
He performs live in his hometown area, Youngstown, Ohio, and home state, and he gets invited to perform in places like Atlanta, Arizona and California.
One of his collaborations was with DJ Drumma Boy Fresh, when he won a challenge to make the best Christmas song to a Drumma Boy beat.
Right now, though, the project is “I’m Sorry.”
“It’s just a lit, live, fun beat. Like I said, I was just freestyling, playing around, like, ‘I’m sorry, Dad, I’m sorry.’”
Connect to Kid Rich on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts. You won’t be sorry.
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Kid Carter Beats, www.kidcarterbeats.com
