Rican Da Menace is a whole vibe, and she’s here to let people know she is not playing when it comes to the music. Hailing from Baltimore but now residing in sunny Los Angeles, the rising star stands for all things female empowerment, exuding confidence, vitality, and one hell of a personality.
And when it comes to the bars, expect nothing less than hard-hitting bars, punchlines, and storytelling in her lyrics. Rican states, “My sound is very assertive. When I’m rapping, you’re gonna feel what I’m saying. I’m not gonna sound unsure about s### that I’m saying.”
The craziest part? Rican Da Menace got signed to Columbia Records with NO music out. Most recently, Rican unveiled the single and visual for “Uh Ohh”, fresh off the heels of her singles “I Admit It” and debut ”Ain’t Going Back.”
AllHipHop spoke with Rican Da Menace in downtown Los Angeles, who brought all the vibes along with a bottle of Don Julio. Read below as we discuss her roots in Baltimore, her favorite artists, what it meant for Foxy Brown to reach out, surviving a gunshot, and more!
AllHipHop: What does it mean to be from Baltimore?
Rican Da Menace: Coming from Baltimore, first of all, like many other cities, it’s hard to get support until they actually see some steam coming behind you. We know those people who gotta see everybody else on you, supporting you, then they’re going to hop on the wave later. Sometimes there are moments where it’s genuine early on, but sometimes it’s not. Until they see, okay, she might actually make it. You gotta make them a believer. Once they see it, they’re going to believe and you’ll get the support you need. But I definitely got the support I need, I ain’t gon’ lie.
AllHipHop: When did you fall in love with music?
Rican Da Menace: I always knew I wanted to do something in music, but it was when I turned 18 around 2020, that I met some people in the industry and guided me in the right direction. It was then when I was like alright, I can take this s### serious. That following year is when I really locked in, was in the studio sun up to sun down grindin sh*t out.
AllHipHop: Did you always want to be a rapper?
Rican Da Menace: Hell nah. I wasn’t one of those people like “When I grow up, I wanna be a rapper.” Personally, I had to go through some things to finally come to the feeling of “Alright, this is what’s best for me and this is what I have to do.” As I kept recording, I started falling in love with it.
AllHipHop: Who’s in your Top 5?
Rican Da Menace: That’s a hard question. I would probably have to say Jadakiss, The Lox, DMX, Eve and Foxy Brown. I love Foxy Brown, she’s definitely one of my top female rappers. Who else? I can’t forget about Nicki Minaj as well.
AllHipHop: When it comes to Baltimore, I think of King Los…
Rican Da Menace: Yeah, King Los is cool too. We have some dope rappers from here like Bandhunta Izzy and Shordie Shordie. But Foxy Brown?! That’s really my b*tch! I f### with Foxy. She showed a lot of love to me. She was one of the first female rappers that really started showing me love, shout outs to Foxy.
AllHipHop: She showed you love?
Rican Da Menace: Hell yeah. She DMed me, sending me my music like ”this s### hard.” She and I speak frequently, I really f*ck with her a lot.
AllHipHop: What’s up with the collab?
Rican Da Menace: That’s what I’m saying! Foxy gon’ pop out when Foxy pops out, you feel me [haha]. But I’m working on it, trying to get a verse out of her. I’ma get it one day, just waiting on the perfect record and timing.
AllHipHop: Most people don’t get signed this quick. How does it feel?
Rican Da Menace: Hell no. It’s so crazy, I feel blessed. I think about it everyday like wow, I really got a signed with no music out. Not one song out, on any platform. People have to have a lot of trust in you in order to sign you for that, because they really don’t know what the f*ck you’re gon’ do after that. Normally, labels sign you based off of what you did already to show potential. But for me, that wasn’t the case at all, I had nothing out and they took the chance on me.
AllHipHop: How did that happen?
Rican Da Menace: My managers knew people in the music industry and they had me in those rooms before I had any music out. Someone from my team was in contact with Leron Roy, the attorney, who’s actually the one who put me in front of Bu. Once we met, it was like history was already set in stone. I can’t name anybody else that got signed with no music out and had people believing in them. I definitely appreciate my team, shout outs to BuVision and Columbia.
AllHipHop: Did the chain come when you got signed?
Rican Da Menace: Hell no! I got my chain before I got signed. When I turned 20, that’s when I got mine.
AllHipHop: I know you survived a gunshot, what happened?
Rican Da Menace: That was in San Francisco, it’s all a blur to me till this day on what exactly happened. I got hit and I remember bouncing back. That incident is what really made me focus on my music more. After it happened, I really locked in because I wasn’t really mobile during that time, I couldn’t walk good. I had to sit down a lot which annoyed me. I hated sitting for so long, not being able to do anything, but this was the perfect time to focus up and work.
That’s when I started learning my voice, trying to get my sound right. It definitely paid off for me though. I was out for like a month, had to have another surgery after that. They had to take a piece of bone from my hip and put it in my finger which messed up my walking even more. Everytime I sat down that whole year, there was a mic in front of me at least 4 hours out the day. For anyone who’s heard my first song, that sh*t sounded a whole mess. I really didn’t know my voice at the time but my hard work paid off for me.
AllHipHop: How much music you sitting on?
Rican Da Menace: Shh.. I have at least 150 tracks on tuck just sitting in my phone since I’ve been recording since 2021. Some songs I love, some that I don’t like and wouldn’t put out. I spend so much of my time recording that at this point, I might as well start dropping music now.
AllHipHop: You released the “I Admit It” freestyle, talk about that record. Were you feeling yourself?
Rican Da Menace: I love that song so much! That’s one of my favorite songs, I always play that when I get in the car. Everybody else loves it too, that s### going up. As more days go on, I keep seeing more and more people posting my song. It’s building its own traction now. That’s the one right there.
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AllHipHop: What was the inspo behind “Uhh Ohh”?
Rican Da Menace: “Uh Ohh” is a record for the folks that slept on me for years and played with me. When I was in the booth, all that kept running through my mind was the stupid things people said to discourage me from rapping. You know that feeling of like HA jokes on you, that’s this record for me.
AllHipHop: What do you want fans to take from the record?
Rican Da Menace: To never let anyone else’s doubts cloud your judgment in what you want to do in your life and that I’m nothing to play with. [laughs]
AllHipHop: What is it you want people to get from your story?
Rican Da Menace: Keep going, no matter what. I don’t give a f*ck what life throws at you, you can overcome that shi*t no matter what it is. I bounced back from so much stuff because I learned you have to keep going. Some people go through a rough patch and give up after like “f### it, I give up. I’m depressed.” No, you cannot do that, you have to get up every day and push forward,no matter what. Your leg broke, your arm broke, you betta figure out how to do something with that one leg and one arm, no excuses. You gotta get up, never sit on your ass.
AllHipHop: What can we expect next? Do you have a project in the works?
Rican Da Menace: Yes, I got so much music coming. Couple star features on tuck along with some new videos. I have so many videos I’m waiting to drop. Definitely planning on dropping at least two singles this month. We working so I can’t wait for you guys to see what I cooked up. Consistency is my goal for this year when it comes to dropping music. I’m not playing.
AllHipHop: What’s been your favorite part of this whole thing?
Rican Da Menace: I would have to say the recording process and definitely shooting videos. It’s fun especially when I can have all my people with me, friends, family and all. It’s like a movie..
AllHipHop: What would you be doing if you weren’t doing music?
Rican Da Menace: I’d probably still be doing nails. I used to do nails on the side so I’d be selling nail products or owning my own business, trying to do something.
AllHipHop: I saw in an interview, Saweetie said her nails took 8 hours.
Rican Da Menace: For real, them b*tches be taking so long to do! Let me tell you, I used to have this one client. When I knew she was coming. I knew not to book anyone after her because her nails always took me so long to do. She wanted double nails, which is when you attached 2 fake nails to your natural nail, making them extra long. The length had to be like a ruler. She also wanted me to do nail art on them, all types of stuff. Nails can definitely take that long if you let it, but I was fast when I did nails. I worked on 10 people a day at least.
AllHipHop: Do you ever miss it?
Rican Da Menace: Mm, no. I like doing nails because I like to draw. But as far as missing it, no. I like exactly where I’m at right now. [laughs]
AllHipHop: Any goals for yourself as an artist?
Rican Da Menace: Of course! I definitely want to put out music that people can relate to and puts people in a better mood when they aren’t feeling so happy. With my music, I want to let people know my story and show them that anything’s possible. You could do anything you want, no matter who tells you no or what’s in your way.
Anything you put your mind to, you could do it. You can start from the bottom and do whatever, as long as you’re consistent. You can’t think something’s gonna happen just because you want it to, you gotta work towards it. A lot of people have the idea that success happens overnight which is their problem. No, you have to get up and work hard to get s### going.
AllHipHop: Anything else you wanna let us know?
Rican Da Menace: My new single “Uh Ohhh” out now, check out “I Admit It” and “Ain’t Going Back” available on all platforms. Follow me everywhere on socials: @RicanDaMenace.