Ridgio

Derek Ahmal Towner Jr. (born February 1, 1995), known professionally as Ridgio, is an American rapper and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. Ridgio is most known for his 2022 single "Out of Body Experience", which was featured on IHeartRadio's 107.5 WGCI. To date, he has released 10 studio albums, 2 mixtapes and 3 EPs as a solo artist.

Early life and education

Ridgio was born Derek Ahmal Towner Jr. on February 1, 1995, at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois. He was co-parented by his mother and father in the North Lawndale and Austin neighborhoods of Chicago. His grandfather was apart of the North Lawndale Community Church choir and his uncle was apart of rap group Cermak Boyz; these are his earliest musical influences. At the age of eight he attended the House of Jacob Bible study class with his mother and stepfather. He stated "my faith in God is my strength, I feel like it's the pillar of my artistry." His mother played Rakim, Lauryn Hill and The Sons of Jacob; he stated that Rakim is still one of his top artists today. Ridgio said in an interview his earliest memory of making music was when he used to freestyle once a year on his father's birthday starting from the age of 12. Also at 12 he moved to Des Plaines, Illinois, with his mother and attended Chippewa Middle School then Maine West High School. It was at 17 that he began making music with his cousins in his aunt's attic. Soon after, Ridgio was kicked out of his home in Des Plaines as a result of his drug use and getting arrested. After leaving his mother's house, Ridgio decided to move to Chicago with his aunt.

Musical career

2013–2016

His earliest recordings were after he graduated high school and were released on SoundCloud. Ridgio's debut collaborations, "Came Up" and "Lucky No More" with Big Boy Blue (formally known as Meeko Fly), received media attention from ''Elevator Mag'' in 2013. He recorded his first mixtape ''C.L.O.U.D.S.'' at 18 and released singles "A Lot (Dope)" and "Ain't Ready" on SoundCloud''.'' Despite gaining local recognition from those singles he has deleted them from all platforms. In 2015 he met his now fiancé Patrisia Vekima at an open mic at DePaul University, where they both performed. That year he also released his first two music videos, "Revolutionary" and "Anywhere"'','' with Lyrical Lemonade's Cole Bennett. The songs were described as "a very fine mesh between a trap-like flow and a powerful meaning." Ridgio did not stray away from this style leading up to his debut EP release, ''Twenty I Winters.'' Since then, he has cultivated a series around the ''Winters'' projects that he releases annually on his birthday. He also released the mixtape ''A W A K E N'' on March 11, 2016. This was his first full-body project and had production from Martin $ky and Kevin Frytz. Lyrical Lemonade articles about this mixtape provided Ridgio's initial recognition in the Chicago Hip-Hop scene. Bennett stated "There's a solid chance you'll soon become a fan of Ridgio if you aren't already.  This kid is quite unique, he is on a mission which is backed by solid reasoning that can be received through the music."

2017–2018

In 2017, Ridgio released his third project ''Twenty II Winters'' and follow-up album ''World of Dreams.'' "Much of the project focuses on the theme of what it means to chase after your ambitions while also staying true to yourself." ''World of Dreams'' was the project that propelled Ridgio out of the local space. He was invited to the Boys & Girls Club in Michigan City, Indiana and the LOK Wishing Tree Foundation to perform for his new audience. He also won a competition at The Promontory in Chicago to perform in Gary, Indiana, at Backstage on Broadway. He began producing instrumentals in 2017 and the following year he received composition credits for web-series ''My Husband's Kid's''. Ridgio released ''Twenty III Winters'' in early 2018. This was his first self-produced album which also had sound bites of his previously deleted ''C.L.O.U.D.S''. mixtape from 2013. The project was described as "an exceptional follow up and displays the young rapper's growth as an artist." This was a Segway for him to throw an in-city tour co-hosted by his artist friend Amoz Wright & Dj' d by Pivot Gang's Squeak coined ''The Chicago Mix Tour.'' Later that summer Ridgio was invited to perform at the Metro Chicago Music Hall. Shortly after the performance, he was discovered by Chicago native Captain Sky, which prompted a short-term collaboration. Sky co-wrote Ridgio's ''Enough Is Enough'' record, which was released the following year on his early 2019 effort, ''Twenty IV Winters.''

2019–2020

On February 1, 2019 Ridgio released ''Twenty IV Winters''. Being his second self-produced album, Austin, Texas, based blog Sail Club Co. stated the project "truly shows his different sounds that he can produce". His song "Enough is Enough" was played on Chicago radio station Power 92.3 FM. That radio play entered him into a competition against fellow Chicago native G. Little. The winner would have an interview on the station. Ridgio ultimately lost the competition by a 51% 49% vote. That summer he went on his first out-of-state tour ''A LGIT Tour'' with his close friends, Mudd, Parnell, Y.T.M. and Sean Chupich (Psa Productions). Also that summer he released his long awaited ''C.L.O.U.D.S.'' album with all new records. He released 7 music videos out of the 9 songs on the project. Ridgio gained significant recognition that summer when NPR Radio Station 91.1 FM included ''C.L.O.U.D.S.'' single "Inspiration" in its summer mid-day rotation. That led to his early 2020 release, ''Twenty V Winters''; he introduced the album at a silent listening party in Chicago's Lincoln Park. NPR's Vocalo Radio placed ''Twenty V Winters "Have You Ever" in its ''Poised to Breakthrough'' list. In this album he displayed how he felt about the connections with the people that's closest to him, starting from when he was born leading to 25 years old. In an interview with Dark Matter Publications Ridgio expressed "I want them to listen to it beginning to end because it tells a story. I hope that people from song number one to song 25 would just listen to it, because it is cohesive. We're in an age right now where people just put a bunch of songs together and just label it an album and that's not what y musicis." The COVID-19 pandemic followed right after the release of his album. He expressed that it hindered him with making music videos and promoting the album. Ridgio followed up mid 2020 with his album ''We Made It''. It is what he calls an Interactive Project, where he had fans pick who produced the album, what features can and cannot be on it and what songs were going to be on it. He said in an interview "It's called 'We Made It' because we made the project together. From start to finish, me and all of my supporters made the whole thing. From the concept, to production, to who's on it… It was also supposed to tie in quarantine, but we didn't really get out of quarantine fully, but maybe in the future it will!".

2021–2022

In early 2021, Ridgio released ''Twenty VI Winters'' . The album featured Chicago based rapper Mick Jenkins on the track "What's Mine". That spring he released follow-up EP ''Six More Days of Winter''. Later that year he went on to compose and executively produce the soundtrack to short-film ''Evil for Evil'' alongside Grammy Award winning cellist Malik Johnson. The film was a story about one young Black man’s reckoning with violence and trauma in the face of his burgeoning healing journey. The soundtrack was its own "existential experience" in representation of the album. Harvey World Editor-in-Chief Amethyst Davis noted "Ridgio skillfully strikes a delicate balance between brazen and gentle. ''Evil'' is a disruption of disposability politics that challenges us all to reconsider binaries of 'good' and 'evil,' and consider a world where healing is a right rather than a privilege and redemption is possible for all." Going into 2022, Ridgio released animated album ''Twenty VII Winters.'' While premiering his "Animated Experience" at the House of Jacob's Chicago Annex, he proposed to his long-time girlfriend Patrisia Vekima. He followed the album with a consistent release of singles every other week leading up to stand-out record ''Out of Body Experience''. In July 2022 radio station WPWX 92.3 FM named Ridgio and his single "Out of Body Experience" the ''Power Pick of the Week.'' IHeartRadio Dj Jamal Smallz discovered the track shortly after then put it in weekly rotation on 107.5 WGCI. He released the original recordings of his freshman mixtape ''C.L.O.U.D.S.'' June 20, 2022 on all major platforms after a 9-year delay; he titled it ''C.L.O.U.D.S. (2014)''. Also that summer, Ridgio released his first compilation album, ''And Friends'', which featured Mick Jenkins, Mark Battles, and frequent collaborator Parnell.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Mixtapes

Tours

* The Chicago Mix Tour (2018)
* A L'GIT Tour (2019)

References

{{Reflist

1995 births
Living people
Rappers from Chicago
Record producers from Illinois