Rico Love is originally from New Orleans. At the age of 31, the singer-songwriter has definitely embedded his mark on the music industry with his hot songs: “They Don’t Know” and “Be Like.” The raunchy singer pushes the limits on cultural issues like women, self-esteem, dating and courting in today’s era. He’s mainly known as a gifted producer that has worked with some of the biggest artists in the music game including Beyoncé, Diddy, T.I., Jamie Foxx, Kelly Rowland and more.
This writer had an opportunity to chat with him during the 2014 BET Awards weekend in LA. Here’s a snippet of our conversation.
Mr. Rico Love, with your notorious radio hits like “They Don’t Know” and “Be Like;” what mindset do you get into in order to create such original, uncut and real music?
I think I’m just like an athlete. Just like when an athlete comes out on the court every day and thrive to be the best and be great, that’s all I’m trying to do musically. Also, I want to tap into the things that aren’t being said and that’s the key to write songs about people and situations we see every day but no one’s saying anything or they don’t know how to talk about it or are too afraid to talk about it. That’s what I wanna do with any music I make. I want to make an impact.
What’s your magic formula to becoming a successful singer-songwriter and producer?
Just being truly honest and true with the music that I make. It’s just one of those things you have to continue to make true to who you are. Those songs like Trey Songz – “Heart Attack,” that was me, the Melonie Fiona joint – “4 a.m.,” Mary J. Blige – “Mr. Wrong;” all those songs were all about me. I wrote those songs back when I was going through them at the time. It was my way of dealing with it, it’s just a natural progression. It’s all real, it’s pure, and it’s honest.
If you can’t get enough of Rico Love make sure you check out his EP, Discrete Luxury on iTunes now.
~dana williams
