"Rich As Fuck" (edited for explicit album as "Rich As F**k" and for clean album as "Rich As F***") is a song by American
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
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...
, sent to
urban radio on April 9, 2013, as the third and final single from his tenth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, ''
I Am Not a Human Being II
''I Am Not a Human Being II'' is the tenth studio album by American Rapping, rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on March 26, 2013, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. Recording sessions took place during 2006 to ...
'' (2013). The song,
produced by
T-Minus and
Nikhil Seetharam, features a
guest appearance
The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting.
The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...
from fellow
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
2 Chainz
Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...
. The song has since peaked at number 38 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and at number 11 on the ''Billboard''
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
.
Background
On January 6, 2013, the song "Rich As Fuck," featuring rapper
2 Chainz
Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...
leaked unmastered and was originally set to be the second single from ''
I Am Not a Human Being II
''I Am Not a Human Being II'' is the tenth studio album by American Rapping, rapper Lil Wayne. It was released on March 26, 2013, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. Recording sessions took place during 2006 to ...
'', but "
Love Me" was released as a single instead. On April 9, 2013, "Rich As Fuck" was released as the third and final single from the album.
The official version of the song was remastered and the first and second verse were switched around, compared to the leaked version.
Critical reception
"Rich As Fuck" was met with generally positive reviews from
music critic
'' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s. David Jefferies called the song "a winner with an enticing and eerie beat from
T-Minus."
Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''.
Career Journalism
Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...
of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' praised Lil Wayne's lyricism on the song and his "nimble musicality of his vocal tone and flow." Dean Van Nguyen of
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
said the "creeping funk beat on "Rich As Fuck" inspire Wayne to one of his sharpest flows on the album." Jon Hadusek of
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television.
History
''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...
said the song had an old-school feel, and called the song ''I Am Not a Human Being's'' "finest moment." Jon Caramanica of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called 2 Chainz appearance on the song impressive. Brandon Soderberg of ''
Spin'' also praised 2 Chainz for having a "charismatic presence on the song." Jayson Greene of
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...
said the Bay Area-influenced clap instrumental of the song work around him, not with him.
''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' ranked "Rich As Fuck" number 18 on their list of the 50 best songs of 2013, saying "The song might not push the limits of art, but when this comes on at the right time, it's the jam, and unlike a lot of the other big hits of the year, it didn't get played out."
Music video
The music video was directed by Parris in early 2013, and was released on March 22, 2013 on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
. The video was released on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
through his
VEVO
Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
one day later, on March 23, 2013. The video is age-limited and needs verification for viewing.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2013 singles
Lil Wayne songs
2 Chainz songs
Songs written by Lil Wayne
Songs written by 2 Chainz
Cash Money Records singles
Song recordings produced by T-Minus (record producer)
2012 songs
Songs written by Nikhil Seetharam
Songs written by T-Minus (producer)
Trap music songs