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Richie Loop firm on life, career goals - ‘My Cup’ singer talks sacrifice, new remixes and the future

Published:Monday | April 20, 2020 | 12:08 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
Recording artiste Richie Loop sports a firm physique and boasts an even firmer mindset.
Recording artiste Richie Loop sports a firm physique and boasts an even firmer mindset.

RICHIE LOOP likens his love for music to that of a relationship with a woman who craves attention. “The very same music you love, she’ll leave you the moment you stop giving her the attention she needs,” the recording artiste surmised in an interview with The Gleaner about what he has been doing in the years he has been seemingly absent from the local music scene.

This summer marks 10 years of My Cup, Richie Loop’s breakout hit which made the then 23-year-old newcomer the toast of the ladies on the dancehall scene. No one-hit wonder, he followed up with the Party Like It’s Your Birthday collaboration with Busy Signal and D-Major.

His look has changed significantly since the release of visuals for those tracks a decade ago. Sporting a clean-shaven head with a more chiselled, Herculean physique, which would have females keeping tabs on him even more, the artiste revealed that at the moment he does not call anyone wife (that’s right, ladies, he is single) and he does not have children.

He told The Gleaner: “I haven’t started a family for the main reason that I am trying to get myself to a level of self-dependence – where I can create my music, get it distributed, and do my own publishing. When you are invested in the music business, you will end up cheating yourself, the girlfriend or wife when you have work. I’m not saying it can’t work, but when it comes on to children, there is the need to take a break so you don’t rob the family of quality time, and I want also to be able to have my family in one place.”

Emerging in 2009 as a co-producer of beats like Brainstorm and Sweat Shop riddims on which he recorded Wants It Good and Gyal Whine, respectively, tracks which paved the way for Richie Loop to work with some of the most prolific of dancehall’s hitmakers, such as Shaggy, Busy Signal, Tony Matterhorn, Ce’Cile, Christopher Martin and Voicemail. But it was party banger My Cup that caused the music industry to stand up and take note

Richie Loop shared: “Back then, when I was producing music, I was just trying. Now, I know what I am doing.”

SPECIFIC TARGETS

At the beginning of every year, a hypothetical starter pistol goes off in Loop’s head, and he sets off on the race to meet specific targets. In an effort to stay in the ears of his audience, he said, “It all comes down to setting goals for myself, and the realistic goal is to release about four, maybe five tracks every month: one EDM, one Moombahton, one dancehall, and another inspired by different genres. I usually have a backlog of tracks so that I am always off to a good start.”

For the month of April, Richie Loop is already halfway to the finish line – featured on remixes of two chart-topping tracks produced by Yungg Trip, who has been credited for producing barrier-breaking music that includes what has been coined ‘future dancehall’. Working with the Los Angeles producer definitely has its perks. Richie Loop is part of a collective with the producer called Flex Up Crew.

“He is a very good producer, a dope one to say the least, and we have worked on several musical masterpieces together,” Richie Loop said of Yungg Trip. Their first official project together, Boom Boom, was released in 2017, and only four months ago, Richie Loop teamed up with him again for Bahm Bahm, and has shown no signs of slowing down.

One of the tracks remixed is Justin Bieber’s Yummy that debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and which was only blocked from taking the blue ribbon because Roddy Rich’s The Box (which is actually the other track Richie Loop has had the opportunity to be on a remix for) held the lead position for over 10 weeks. The Yummy and The Box remixes produced by Yungg Trip were released recently and are steadily picking up steam.

NO AVERAGE DANCEHALL

“I never came out with average dancehall, so I can’t stick to average dancehall. There’s more music in the pipeline, including Moov and (don’t laugh) Corona, but it’s not like other songs about the virus [that] people have been hearing. Next, I will be taking on professional projects to mix and produce for other artistes,” Richie Loop said.

The entertainer is presently completing studies in music production and engineering which, although affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, still takes up quite a bit of his time and energy.

“The school is located in Finland, I am in Jamaica right now. The challenge is that a lot of what we do is hands-on, but I am putting in the work as best as I can. I have to sacrifice a lot of stuff to get twice as much done,” he said.

“When we talk about cut the girls and cut the partying … avoid any distractions. I don’t know anyone who wants to be in a classroom with the 18- to 20-year-olds when they are 40, but I know I don’t. Quarantine is not something new to me; I am used to being holed up somewhere putting all my energy into the work.”

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.com