Rich the Kid is one of the brightest representatives of the new American rap school. The young performer collaborated with the group Migos и Young Thug. If at first he was a producer in hip-hop, then in a few years he managed to create his own label. Thanks to a series of successful mixtapes and singles, the artist is now collaborating with the popular label Interscope Records.
Childhood and youth of Rich the Kid
Rich the Kid is the stage name that the guy took at the beginning of his career. In fact, the rap artist's name is Dimitri Leslie Roger. He was born on July 13, 1992 in Queens (an administrative division of New York). Rich has Haitian roots, so from an early age he speaks Haitian and Creole.
The father and mother decided to divorce when the boy was only 13 years old. Because of this, together with his mother, he was forced to leave a large city and move to Woodstock (a suburb of Atlanta). Here he lived when he was a teenager, and also found his main hobbies - music and skateboarding. Mother raised Dimitri alone, father practically did not help the family.
“When I was a kid, I skated with the team. To be honest, I almost became a professional, but I refused it, because I did not suspect that I could be a skateboarder and rap at the same time, ”Rich says about his hobbies.
The performer graduated from Elmont Memorial Junior School. Already in his teens, he was very interested in music. According to Dimitri, he grew and developed under the tracks of 50 Cent and Kanye West. But Kanye remained his favorite rapper. He was also heavily influenced by: Jay Z, 2Pac, Nas и Notorious BIG.
Musical career of Dimitri Roger
The novice performer published his first works on the Internet under the creative name Black Boy the Kid. However, he soon changed it to Rich the Kid. Roger's debut release in 2013 was Been About the Benjamins. A little later, he published two mixtapes with the very famous Migos band.
Rich recorded two mixtapes Feels Good 2 Be Rich and Rich Than Famous in 2014. Artists such as Rockie Fresh, Young Thug, Kirko Bangz and RiFF RaFF can be heard in them. Then in 2015, the artist recorded the album Flexxin on Purpose, which included 14 tracks. Collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign, Young Dolph, Fetty Wap, Peewee Longway and 2 Chainz were featured here.
In March 2016, Kid decided to create his own label, Rich Forever Music. The first artist to sign a collaboration with him was Famous Dex, followed by J$tash. The label's debut release was Rich Forever Music, a 15-track album featuring Offset, Lil Yachty, OG Maco and Skippa Da Flippa. Shortly after its release, J$tash made the decision to leave the label.
In 2016, the performer recorded another solo work, Trap Talk. Several songs were recorded with 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Party Next Door, Migos and Ty Dolla Sign. The label Interscope Records became interested in the artist's activities. And in 2017, Dimitri signed a contract with him.
Although Rich released songs under the auspices of Interscope Records, his label continued to function. In the summer of 2018, Kid invited the first performer, Airionne Lynch, to the label. This was followed by the release of the 15-track mixtape The World Is Yours. Now the artist releases two records a year. His tracks can often be heard on the American charts.
Conflict involving Rich the Kid
In 2016, the rapper had a conflict with his colleague, American rapper Lil Uzi Vert. Lil Uzi took to Twitter to urge aspiring artists to only sign deals with major labels. The performer justified this with more favorable conditions than popular DJs and rappers offer. As the owner of the label, Rich considered this offensive and suggested to Lil Uzi that he collaborate with the Rich Forever label.
Uzi told Kid that he would never cooperate for $20 in his life. To this he received the answer that it is not worth judging everyone based on the sad life experience. In an interview, Rich spoke about his dislike for Uzi. He also noted the possibility of a contract with him solely for the sake of business.
For a long time, the conflict between the artists consisted of nothing more than joking with each other. However, the jokes stopped when Rich the Kid released the Dead Friend video. It contains a scene in which Kid buries his abuser in the grave. The actor who played this role was very similar to Lil Uzi.
The opponent did not tolerate such tricks in his direction. And during the Who Run It Challenge, he released a diss, offending not only Rich, but also the Migos group in it. Dimitri was supported by Blac Youngsta, and a few days later they released a video as part of the challenge. For some time, the conflict was still discussed by various publications on the Internet. Lil Uzi Vert conveyed his best wishes to Kid and his family in an interview. Many considered this the end of the beef.
However, in June 2018, Uzi met Rich on a street in Philadelphia. Initially, he planned to just talk to his opponent, but the latter decided to hide behind guards and run away. Lil Uzi followed him and was able to catch up to him at the Starbucks coffee shop. There, the rapper hit Kid several times. But he was able to escape again by jumping over the cash desk. After that, there was no more news about the conflict between the performers.
Racial Discrimination by Dimitri Roger
In December 2020, Rich the Kid was discriminated against when he tried to board a plane where he was supposed to fly business class. The rapper turned on Instagram Live to film the moment when airline employees forbade him to board a flight. According to them, the performer smelled of marijuana. Dimitri, who does not use drugs, felt that he was mostly blamed because of the color of his skin.
While on the airstairs, he testified that, together with the team, he was taken out of the plane and ordered to return to the gate inside the airport. Employees did not want to let the performer in even after he passed the control of the Transportation Security Administration. The rapper constantly expressed concern about missing his flight, although the plane's staff said that it was not yet time for takeoff.
At one point on the air, he announced that he would contact his lawyer regarding the incident. “I am very rich. In case you didn't know this, I am a very rich artist. My lawyer will contact you,” he said as the team was moved back to the holding area and the staff began gathering their information again. It is not clear if the artist and his companions were able to fly after the incident. But the situation really hurt the rapper.
What is known about the personal life of Rich the Kid?
Dimitri was briefly married to Antonette Willis, known to many as Lady Luscious. The couple had two children. In the spring of 2018, Antonette made the decision to divorce the artist, wanting to leave full physical custody of her children. According to the results of the court session, the rapper can see each other and take part in the upbringing of children. He is also their legal guardian to this day.
The performer loves his children very much. But he admits that sometimes fatherhood scared him: “The worst thing is to understand how to raise children. Now they are really small. These are my first two children, and they were born a year apart. The worst thing is not knowing how to raise and educate them, but still you have to figure it out and learn new things.
When filing for divorce, Lady Luscious alleged that Cyrus cheated on her with model Blac Chyna and singer India Love. Later, Willis also spoke about how her husband forced her to terminate her pregnancy several times. A short time after his wife submitted the application, the performer met with Tori Hughes, also known as DJ Tori Brixx.
In June 2018, the artist was hospitalized after intruders in the mansion of his beloved Dimitri. Several men broke into the Hughes house and demanded money from the performer by force. Rich refused to pay them. The criminals beat the artist and subsequently ran away from home, taking with them a large sum of money and valuables. After being released from the hospital, the rapper broke up with Tori Hughes due to allegations of domestic violence.
The artist loves to intrigue fans. In 2018, the performer also held a PR campaign on Instagram. He posted a photo that had the text "RiP Rich the Kid 1992-2018" on it. In the caption to the publication, he thanked his fans and family for their support throughout his creative career. One of the team members wrote in the comments that this is a fake, and the artist just wants to change his stage name. As a result, such a move turned out to be a "warm-up" of an audience of 4,2 million people before the upcoming releases.
