Meet Rique

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rique.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In Chicago, where I’m from my church-oriented family always was big on singing in church, so much that the choir has consisted of cousins, my mama and even her siblings. As a kid, I didn’t know much about music. All I knew was it made me feel some type of way when I heard it. One day it moved me so much the choir had like a concert. I rushed the stage, stood next to my uncle duel, who passed when I was around six or seven and started trying to direct the choir with him. Even then, I didn’t know how to take it seriously till I moved to Nashville where I became a recording artist. It was tough, went through manager after manager, dreams were sold, Ls were taken, even lost some people close to me. All that anger and pain was in me I had no choice but to channel it through my music.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely hasn’t been smooth at all. Doing what I do you should know it won’t be. Honestly, I appreciate everything I have been through. It molded me into the artist I am now. Two of the main struggles I experienced is losing my brother Kevin and falling for a female that wasn’t who I thought she was. It’s crazy cause all this happened in the same year. I was young, I liked guns and money and Kevin did too. At first, it wasn’t even like that. We was kids. We grew up on 1900, hooped outside, played football, everybody was cool enough to the point where we’d all be at one another house playing the game. All that went away fast, though, felt like a blink of an eye. One day turned my childhood upside down. Losing bro the way we lost him made us all grow up quick. 1900music not just about me. It’s for all my folks from where I’m from, my family, Kevin’s family. Anything worth having not gone come easy. If it does, you better be asking some questions and having your eyes open.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been a Recording Artist for almost eight years now. In my early recording years, I started off recording on my boy Jaimon’s MacBook. He had this USB rockband microphone he let me borrow too. This was back in middle school those Thurgood Marshall days, Mr. Webb. If you see this, I apologize but it definitely was me that stole the mic stand from behind the stage. That was the last piece of the puzzle. My closet was my first studio. I wrote all my music from day one and still do to this day. Recording myself turned me into and engineer and I didn’t even recognize it’ll till about four years ago. Not only did I take engineering seriously but I also started writing music and pitching ideas to another artist I knew. Becoming a solid recording artist and having that key ability to write music is just a blessing. Engineering is the cherry on top. I got a crazy catalog, songs starting from 2014 and it just keeps going. There are two of my projects available right now. Me and my team currently working on a potential release in early 2021.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up was cool. All my brothers played basketball. That’s what inspired me to hoop. Girls were my downfall, though. I used to instigate a lot of fights, too, if I wasn’t in it. Somehow I still was bringing home the best grades. Music played a major role in growing up. I ain’t know I could freestyle until I was challenged in high school. It’s this dude I used to battle everyday in the locker room two years straight. That man was cooking me every time. He was a senior so his last day at that school we battled one more time and I held my own. That whole experience enhanced an ability I didn’t even know I had. Overall I feel like I was a good kid growing up. Whatever I wanted to do I always had that focus for it. Grew up faster than I wanted to, but I feel like I turned out okay for the most part.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/eyeamrique/
• Other: https://songwhip.com/rique-2