Tommy Richman has been dominating the charts this year with his breakout hits, “Million Dollar Baby” and “Devil Is A Lie.” Amidst all the wins, he has made it clear that he does not want to be put into a box as just a Hip Hop artist.
After Joe Budden caught wind of his back and forth with DJ Hed on social media, he had a few thoughts of his own on the rising Woodbridge, VA, crooner’s place in the music industry. In response to Richman clarifying that, “I’ll say again, Im thankful for everything. I’m saying I don’t wanna be boxed in. I grew up on hip hop. But I’m a singer.” Budden expressed his distaste for his stance.
Glad I got the PSA before I did my radio mix. I now have 2 open slots. What should I play ?
On the Oct. 4 episode of the Joe Budden Podcast, after mockingly singing his hit song, Budden shared “Tommy Richman, I hate that f**king song. I needed to hear more slaps.” After detailing more about the back and forth between Richman and DJ Hed, he detailed, “Culture pushed you to where you needed to be. Now is not the right time for ,‘I’m not a Hip Hop artist.’ I have no problem with, ‘I am not just a Hip Hop artist,’ or ‘I am much more than a Hip Hop artist.’”
With his co-host seemingly in agreeance with his stance, the former emcee shared, “Why you even tweeting? All you got to do, you got the easiest job in the world Tommy Richman, shut the f**k up. You in that group of people that can receive your success and never have to talk to Black people.”
While Budden repeats that he is not upset with the fact that he does not want to be positioned as just a Hip Hop artist, he reinforced the idea that shutting out Hip Hop after Hip Hop was the main culture that embraced him is off-putting to fans. Many people brought up Post Malone and his distancing himself from the genre after his barrier of entry was “White Iverson.”
The esteemed broadcaster later emphatically stated that, “Tommy Richman ain’t fire enough to do that yet,” when closing out his thoughts on white artists distancing themselves from Hip Hop after they get the fame.
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