Rich Homie Quan Returns With Comeback Album ‘Rich As In Spirit’
By Carl Lamarre
“I go through pain every day, but it ain’t the pain of how it used to be growing up,” says Rich Homie Quan as he stares contemplatively at his gaudy watch. Despite being a precocious songwriter, who deftly crafted several hits including “Some Type of Way,” “Walk Thru” and the 2014 summer scorcher “Lifestyle” with Young Thug, RHQ nearly watched his career wither into oblivion because of poor choices and, quite frankly, bad luck.
From the Biggie tribute snafu at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors in 2016, to his felony drug possession charge, to his publicized skirmish with Young Thug, Quan has always found himself embroiled in muddy situations. Though he always had an answer for his errant mistakes, many pondered if he would be able to claw his way back to rap prominence. After being courted by a bevy of labels, including Epic Records and Atlantic Records, Quan opted to go for the less rap-centric label, Motown Records, in hopes of rejuvenating his career. “I could tell we was gonna work together. I ain’t gonna work for them, they ain’t gonna work for me, we was gonna work together,” Quan says of his signing.
In addition to his signing, Quan shaved off his boisterous Afro and now sports a clean low-cut. Don’t fret: Despite his hairstyle change, Quan’s unmatched work ethic and superior hook abilities still are staples in his career. With his debut album Rich as in Spirit out today (March 16), Quan is ready to place the rap game in the cobra clutch and regain his status as one of the South’s most esteemed rappers. Check out our interview below.
Talk to me — this haircut, man. Does it mean that you decided to reset your life? Change things up?
I wouldn’t even say that. It was just a haircut, man. Wash off my old sins ’cause we sin a lot. I ain’t doing nothing different and I ain’t never did. Sometimes, you think the hair might be a distraction; it wasn’t no crisis change. I just wanted a cleaner look again. Everybody the same for one, so it was all about just being original, just being myself.
Do you ever think about growing the hair back?
I like the compliments I get with the haircut, like from all the girls. It’s something I wanted to do, not something I discussed with nobody.
I actually got to listen to a little bit of the Rich As in Spirit album. On the first track “From Me to You,” you had a line -
I told you that’s my favorite song off the whole thing?
Nah, but you had a line that caught me. You said, “I can’t change the person I am, I can change the way that I’ve lived.”
I can’t change the person I am, but I can change the way I’ve lived. Basically like, I’ve been instilled as a child to know right from wrong, but everybody still makes mistakes. It’s basically like I can’t change nothing I do, I can just work on myself. Like, if I work on myself, I don’t have to put myself in trouble’s way. I can’t stop myself from getting out of trouble, but I can stop myself from putting myself in trouble’s way. You see what I’m saying? It’s one of those situations like that. I’m glad, like you said, “From Me to You.” That’s my shit. I like the off-beat, like it just sounds like it’s wrong.
Continue reading this interview at Billboard.com
This post Rich Homie Quan Returns With Comeback Album ‘Rich As In Spirit’ first appeared on Vibe.
