Ritchie Acheampong (born April 28, 1987), better known as Rich Kidd, is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and film/video director from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He is a two-time nominee for the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Rap Recording of the Year as a solo artist, garnering nominations at the

Juno Awards of 2013 The Juno Awards of 2013 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2011 and in most of 2012. The awards were presented in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the weekend of 20–21 April 2013. The main ceremony was host ...

for ''The Closers'' and at the

Juno Awards of 2014 The Juno Awards of 2014 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2012 and in most of 2013. The awards were presented in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, during the weekend of 29–30 March 2014. The main ceremony took place ...

for ''In My Opinion''. In 2013, he formed the project Naturally Born Strangers with collaborators Tona and Adam Bomb. That group's debut release, ''The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers'', won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2015 The Juno Awards of 2015 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2013 and most of 2014. They were presented in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, during the weekend of March 14-15. The main ceremony was conducted at FirstOntari ...

."2015 Junos: Bahamas, Arkells, Rush big winners at 'Junos Eve' gala"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, March 14, 2015.

Early life

Acheampong was born in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian immigrant parents Elizabeth Acheampong, a warehouse laborer, and Morgan Acheampong, a taxi driver. At age 3, his family moved to the suburb of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

and frequently within the city. When his parents divorced, he and his mother moved to a co-operative housing area in Erin Mills (west Mississauga), locally known as the Ridgeway complex. He graduated from Loyola Catholic Secondary School and was also a graduate of The Remix Project; an educational youth program for music, art, and business.

Career

Debut

Rich Kidd began producing music as a teenager and received his first production credit at 19 years old for rap artists

Frank n Dank Frank N Dank (real names Frank Bush and Derrick Harvey) are an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. They also go by the names Frank Nitt (previously known as Frank Nitty, which is a reference to the 1930s crime boss Frank Nitti) and D ...

's "Get Right Song". In 2007, he released the first of an annual compilation series called ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit'' currently composed of seven volumes and featuring nearly 100 artists. In 2007, he produced four songs on rap artist

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's ''Comeback Season'' mixtape.

2009-present

In 2009, rap artists

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

and Billy Danze from MOP released the song "Undescribable" using a Rich Kidd production. That same year, performing artist K-os released his fourth studio album which included the single "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman" featuring

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

and

Saukrates Karl Amani Wailoo (born March 6, 1978), better known by his stage name Saukrates (; "Socrates"), is a Canadian rapper, singer, and record producer. He is the co-founder of Capitol Hill Music, and lead singer of the hip-hop/ R&B group Big Black ...

produced by Rich Kidd. We On Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 3 was released in July 2009, featuring "The Search", a song featuring

and

. in 2010 Rich Kidd performed at Canadian Hip Hop festival

Manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

, and received production credits on

Shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

award-winning album TSOL with the song "Listen". He received a nomination for Producer of the Year at the 2010 Stylus awards and returned the following year to five nominations including an award for Artist Mixtape of the Year. Rich Kidd launched his directorial debut ''Trespassing'', a semi-biographical short film featured in the City Life Film Project and debuted at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

’s Bell Lightbox. "Take It Slow" served as his debut solo single. Soon after Rich Kidd was named top 5 local MCs by the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

and began to tour the UK and Australia. In 2011,

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

stated in an interview that Rich Kidd is a Canadian artist he would like to work with. The two have unreleased material that was recorded before Kendrick started working on Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. Jay-Z's engineer,

Young Guru Gimel Androus Keaton (born February 27, 1974), professionally better known by his pseudonym Young Guru, is an American audio engineer, record producer, disc jockey, and record executive from Wilmington, Delaware. In 2019, Young Guru won a Grammy ...

, has said that Rich Kidd is one of his favorite producers due to him being exposed to his production on the unreleased

Jay Electronica Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah (born Timothy Elpadaro Thedford; September 19, 1976), known professionally as Jay Electronica (stylized as ), is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in New Orleans, he first saw recognition wit ...

album: "Act II". In 2012, Rich Kidd released an instrumental mixtape ''Kiddstrumentals'' and his first studio album'' The Closers'' along with

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

SonReal Aaron Hoffman (born August 16, 1985), better known by his stage name SonReal, is a Canadian singer, rapper, and songwriter signed to the Black Box Recordings record label. Musical career 2006–2012: ''Early Career'' and mixtapes SonReal b ...

which landed him a

Nomination for Rap Recording of the Year and another nomination for Hip Hop Video of the Year for the song "''Hometown''".'' '' In April 2013, Rich Kidd released his most complete solo full length project ''In My Opinion'' which features singles "SYKE", "Can I Get A

om Bom ''Om'' (or ''Aum''; ; , ISO 15919: ''Ōṁ'') is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra, and invocation in Hinduism. Its written form is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion. It is the esse ...

, and "I'd Be Lying". The album was nominated for a Juno Award in 2014. In March 2013, the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

named Rich Kidd "your favourite Canadian rapper's favourite rapper" in their top 25 list. In 2014, Rich Kidd hosted several

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

and

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

documentaries such as "Rich Kidd in Iqaluit" and "First Out Here: Indigenous Hip Hop in Canada" that continue to play on Viceland, Vice's television station. In 2015, Rich Kidd along with rappers

Adam Bomb Adam Bomb (born Adam Brenner, 14 August 1963) is an American guitarist who worked with artists like TKO, Black 'N Blue, Steel Pulse, John Paul Jones, and Michael Monroe. His stage name is obviously a play on the name Atom Bomb. Early In 1979 ...

and Tona were nominated for and won the Juno Award for Best Rap Recording beating out Drake protege

P. Reign Raynford Avery Humphrey (born January 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Preme ( ; formerly P Reign), is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He initially guest appeared on the 2011 singles " Alone Again" by Alyssa Re ...

. This same year they won the Sirius XM Indie award for Best Hip Hop/Rap Group. In 2017, Rich Kidd starred alongside

Melinda Shankar Melinda Leanna Shankar (born February 18, 1992) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for starring as Alli Bhandari in the television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (2008–2015) and as Indira "Indie" Mehta in the YTV series ''Ho ...

and Pat Thornton in the movie Filth City, a loosely-based parody of the Rob Ford crack scandal. Rich Kidd is also very much involved in the community arts sector, working with various organizations and mentorship programs. He is currently serving as the Recording Arts program leader of The Remix Project.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Closers'' (2012) (with

) * ''In My Opinion'' (2013) * ''The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers'' (2013) (with Adam Bomb and Tona)

Mixtapes

* ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 1'' (2007) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 2: Piecing Together the Game'' (2008) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 3: From the Bottom of the Can'' (2009) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 4: The Boiling Point'' (2010) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 5: Born to Win'' (2011) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 6: City on My Back'' (2012) * ''Kiddstrumentals V.1'' (2012) * ''The Closers'' (with

) (2012) * ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 7: The People's Champ'' (2013) * ''Kiddstrumentals V.2'' (2013)

Singles

* "Take It Slow" (2010) * "MJ Year" (2010) * "Don't Sleep on Me" (2011) * "Back in the Day" (2012) * "SYKE" (2013) * "Can I Get A

(2013) * "I'd Be Lying" (2013)

Awards and nominations

Awards

* Juno Awards 2011 – Rap Recording of the Year (

's ''

TSOL T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Huntington Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathro ...

'' produced by Rich Kidd) * Stylus Awards 2011 – Artist Mixtape of the Year Award for We On Some Rich Kidd Shit Volume 4: The Boiling Point * Toronto Independent Music Awards 2010 – Best Live Urban Award * Juno Awards 2015 – Rap Recording of the Year for The Legends League Presents: Naturally Born Strangers * Sirius XM Indie Awards 2015 - RAP/HIP-HOP ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR for Naturally Born Strangers (Legends League)

Nominations

; Juno Awards 2013 * Rap Recording of the Year Nomination for Rich Kidd and

's ''The Closers'' * Rap Recording of the Year for JD Era's ''No Handouts'' * Rap Recording of the Year for

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadian rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is credited ...

's ''Black Tuxedo'' ; Stylus Awards 2011 * Hip Hop Single of the Year (2x) * R&B Single of the Year * Producer of the Year ; Stylus Awards 2012 * Artist Mixtape of the Year - ''We on Some Rich Kidd Shit Vol. 5: Born to Win'' ; Muchmusic Video Awards 2010 * Hip Hop Video of the Year – K-os' "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman" (produced by Rich Kidd) * Director of the Year – Director X for K-os' "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman" (produced by Rich Kidd) ; Muchmusic Video Awards 2013 * Hip Hop Video of the Year – with

' "Hometown" ; IHeartRadio Muchmusic Video Awards 2015 * Hip Hop Video of the Year – with Naturally Born Strangers "No One Knows My Struggle" ; IHeartRadio Muchmusic Video Awards 2016 * Best Post Production – with Naturally Born Strangers "Jameson Ave" ; IHeartRadio Muchmusic Video Awards 2017 * Hip Hop Video of the Year – with Tassnata' "Let's Go"

References

External links

Rich Kidd Beats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd, Rich 1987 births Living people Canadian hip-hop record producers Rappers from Toronto Canadian male rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers Canadian people of Ghanaian descent 21st-century Canadian male musicians