Richie Smoovâ„¢ aka V.I.P Status

"I was born in the west coast, raised in the west coast... i will ALWAYS be west coast." -Richie Smoov.
Richie Smoov a 21 year old Hip Hop-R&B Producer/Songwriter/Artist has been one to know about "struggles", born in Phoenix, Arizona his life contained many opsticles he had to overcome. From growing up on food stamps to getting raised by the streets growing up to being involved in a horrific vehicle accident to loosing his mother at age 12,. " when i found out in the hospital that my mother was gone i couldn’t cry, it hurt, but i knew she was in a better place... also because i knew i would have to be the strong one for my family. " That he was but in the next three years he would also loose two more members of his family to death. "It was hard, i was starting to loose people that was really close to me, and the fact that my father remarried at the time (now divorced) made me feel more like i was being pulled away from my own family. It hit me... bad, and things just starting slipping away, from school to emotional strength, I was at the point were i just felt like giving up... thats when i turned to music."
Richie would write poems to express his feelings, thoughts and pains on paper as an excape. Soon poems turned into verses which then turned into songs. His father who was in the military retired in 01’ which moved Richie to the Bay Area,CA when he was 15. Spending the majority of his teens years there Richie grew as a young man and as an artist and would end up living there for 6 years. "me being a son of a soldier i moved around a lot, i was exposed to a lot of different places, things, and cultures in my life. But after finally staying in a city for more than two years I started to become part of the culture there in the bay instead of just being exposed to it”. "I moved to the bay before there was a "Hyphy movement" i moved there when Mac Dre (r.i.p) was still alive, before Hyphy was a word”. Richie Smoov first record in a professional studio in Oakland, when he was 17 years old with his at the time group member and finally got a taste of what he wanted. the group didn't last but his passion for music did. " I've always had a passion for music, it was all around my family. Thats something that really helped develop my ear for music.
"Growing up on Blues/Jazz and R&B by his grandmother, Smoov became a custom to greats like B.B King, Marvin Gay, Berry White, The Temptations and others. Threw his lifetime as a kid Richie was exposed to a lot of different genres of music but he soon developed a love for R&B and Hip Hop music. Growing up with such likes of Tupac, E-40, Ice Cube, Nas, Method Man, Jay-Z, Three6mafia, Ludacris, U.G.K, LL Cool J, and Ginuwine. Now also with the likes of other notable artists like Lil Wayne, Common, Mistah F.A.B, Willy Northpole, Kanye West, Paul Wall and others.... Richie’s love for music is greater than most. "I'm such a fan of music i just want to make good music myself, I've been threw a lot in my life, my ears and eyes have been exposed to a lot. I want to make music everyone can relate to. I'm not looking to get famous and be a quote/unquote "celebrity," though that would be an accomplishment all in it self... I just want to be able to reach someone with my words from my ultimate passion, music."
Richie Smoov, Now living in Albuquerque NM, is back in the “South West”, an is pretty excited about the whole ordeal.... “I'm excited to be back here, I'm from the southwest... even though I am in Albuquerque and not back in Phoenix I still know our current situation as a south west whole. We don't have anyone to really represent us on the hip hop scene, We just got major looks an shout outs to Ludacris for signing Willy Northpole! I'm real excited about that because he is holding it down for Phoenix, AZ... He, I feel is going to get this ball rolling for the south west to hit the map, But there's still no real front man for Albuquerque... yes there are artists here that I respect and I see your grind. But I'm here, an im taking the saying "its not where your from, its where your at" and am going to take advantage of my situations... So I'm going to put the 505 on my back and see if I can help this movement really hit...” some people may think “we'll your from Phoenix why do you want to hold down the 505?” I simply say, because I live here now.
Wether you cought him singing in church and school choirs, freestyling in crowds at school or secluded making beats and writing music. Richie is a force to be reconed with in the music industry, Already becoming a household name, when the time comes he will be ready to show everyone his talents as well as his personality. With his smooth flow, appealing looks and ear to the streets Richie will be one to please the masses. be on the look out for Richie Smoov.