It's a little after two o'clock on an unreasonably hot July afternoon, and Riff Raff is watching the news in his Toronto hotel room. The screen has been filled with images from the tragic Colorado movie theatre shooting all day. Between bites of rotini-covered pizza, Riff hypothesizes that the shooter chose to attack a screening of the new Batman movie for a reason.
“It's Batman fans,” he says. “He probably wants to be the next Joker or something.”
When a picture of alleged shooter James Holmes wearing a somewhat unstable-looking grin pops up on the screen, Riff Raff has all the proof he needs.
“See, what I tell you?” he says excitedly to his manager.
Interviewing Riff Raff involves a kind of constant deciphering. Much of what he says almost — but doesn't quite — make sense, and you're never entirely sure if he's not just screwing with you.
He answers most questions with a series of riddles and non-sequiturs. Plausible answers are delivered with a smile, while ridiculous statements are made with a complete deadpan. When you think it's all one big prank, he'll catch you off guard with a dose of alarming sincerity, talking about his need to keep a “close circle” out of fear of people looking to take advantage of his newfound success.
For years, Riff Raff was written off as a sort of weird joke. One of the first contestants kicked off the otherwise forgettable MTV reality show From G's to Gents, he spent the better part of two years staying on the periphery of the public eye with a series of bizarre, low-budget YouTube videos.
Check out the latest video by Riff Raff, "MiDNiTE SPRiTE":
Somewhere along the way, though, things started to turn around. The videos, which he cranks out constantly, started to get hundreds of thousands of hits. His dadaist Twitter posts received scores of retweets. (He prefers Twitter to Facebook, because the latter is “too confusing” for him.) The YouTube comments, which had previously been a mixture of mockery and confusion, became overwhelmingly positive. Early last summer, he received a massive $3 million deal with Mad Decent, the record label run by DJ/producer/tastemaker Diplo. Riff Raff may have started out as a joke, but now he seems to be laughing at us.
According to Riff Raff, he was always destined for fame. If anything, he says, he feels like he should have caught on earlier.
“I always knew this was gonna happen. I was just wondering when,” he said. “If I could have been on TV 10 years ago and had my own talk show 10 years ago, I would've did that. Anything I can do, I turn into something better. MTV, they should've given me my own show. Not a reality show, my show. I could have a damn cooking show, a show where I build TVs or something.”
It may sound odd for a rapper to talk about being the next Maury Povich or Bobby Flay, but that's because Riff Raff's not a rapper. He says that rap is just part of a larger plan.
“I don't see myself as a rapper,” he says. “I see myself as a person with a lot of ideas and a lot of creativity. Whether it's music or me writing a screenplay or poetry or whatever they want to call it.... The rap thing is a byproduct of that.”
Just as Riff's braggadocio and estimation of his own talents is about to reach a fever pitch, he softens. He admits that even though he's just declared himself “the greatest artist in the world,” he still has a lot to learn about the music business. He seems remarkably aware of the fact that many people in the hip-hop world aren't sold on him yet.
“I think, even though I'm not 15 years old or something, people see me as a new artist,” he says. “I haven't completely come out.... People see me as a rookie. I'm not even in that freshman class.”
Riff Raff uses the phrase “I can't talk about that” a lot. He can't say what his screenplay is about, or talk about his new television program, or even mention who he's working on it with, although he assures you that they're “big names.” It's hard to tell if this is because none of it is actually happening — and he's just screwing with you, completely deluded — or really has all these irons in the fire, and the details really are that top secret.
“People are asking me all these questions,” he says. “So much new shit is popping up every day, you ask me what's going on in the next month or two and I can't even tell you.... But there are other things that are just going to multiply and turn into something bigger.”
Riff's rapid rise has caused a surprisingly cautious streak to develop. It's odd to hear a man known for psychedelic clothes, odd hair and an outsized personality describe himself as a reserved introvert, but offstage, Riff Raff seems to be exactly that. He doesn't roll with an entourage and doesn't seem to care if people pay attention to him when he's not performing.
“I'm not going to say I don't associate with people, but I have a really small circle,” he says. “When I hear stories [from other artists] about 'Oh, these people coming around and they want this and da da da....' I don't put myself in a position where that can happen.”
In Riff Raff's world, a statement like that, completely out of character and thoroughly introspective can't be left without an oddball followup. Within minutes, the mask is back on, and Riff is declaring himself a great candidate to run a fashion line, given his status as “the first person to wear swim trunks, ever” and claiming that he spends his down time saving dolphins and doing ice sculptures.
Everyone else in the room is left awkwardly smiling. It seems as if the self-proclaimed “Rap Game Pete Sampras” is having some fun with us, but it's almost impossible to tell for sure.
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