Studio Time
Words: Emmanuel Maduakolam
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Spring 2018 issue of of XXL Magazine, on stands now.

Rich The Kid is a hustler. Since 2013, the Queens-born rapper has been putting in work, releasing multiple projects a year, starting his own label Rich Forever Music and collaborating with big names such as Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti and Young Thug, among others. The Interscope Records artist is finally gearing up for the release of his first album, The World Is Yours. XXL caught up with Rich while he was on tour to get a breakdown of a few of the tracks that’ll make it onto his big debut LP.

“End of Discussion” featuring Lil Wayne

“It’s about if you not talking about the money, then we’re not talking about shit. I forgot I sent [Lil Wayne] the song. One day I woke up and somebody was like, “I’m about to send you this verse for ‘End of Discussion.’” I asked who this was and he was like, “Jeffery, the engineer.” I asked how he got the song and I sent him my email. When I opened it, it was a verse from Lil Wayne. It was crazy. The song has a lot of energy. It’s between this song and “New Freezer” as my favorite records.”

“Too Gone” featuring Khalid

“I was in the studio working on my album. I told him to come to the studio and he had some of his friends over and we were all just vibing. The song is about getting a text message from a girl, but you was too drunk to respond. You’re too out of it.”

“Can’t Afford” featuring Pusha T

[Editor's note: The final version of The Worlds Is Yours tracklist does not include this song] “It’s about coming up in the industry in rap music and people not respecting you—taking care of your space. It was dope working with Pusha T. We ran into each other a couple of times. He said he really liked my music. I sent him a song and he killed it.”

“We Made It” featuring Rick Ross and Jay Critch

[Editor's note: The final version of the song on The Worlds Is Yours tracklist is titled "Made It"] “It’s about making it, being rich forever. It’s about [bringing] Rich Forever Music and Rick Ross’ “Rich Forever” [track] together.”

“Solitude”

[Editor's note: The final version of The Worlds Is Yours tracklist does not include this song] “It’s a girl singing in the background but it’s an old sample, then I come in. It’s real slow, something fans are not going to expect to be on my album. I was thinking about my wife when she was calling me nonstop when I was recording. This song is about me being away, not being around anyone.”

“No Reasons” featuring Nicki Minaj and Big Sean

[Editor's note: The final version of The Worlds Is Yours tracklist does not include this song] “The concept is about flexin’ and doing shit for no reason, [just] because you could. Like, pulling out money and doing stupid shit. Rich shit.”

Check out more from XXL’s Spring 2018 issue including our two cover stories with G-Eazy and 21 Savage, Show & Prove with Trippie Redd and more.

See Photos from G-Eazy and 21 Savage's XXL Magazine Spring 2018 Cover Shoot

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