FUSE TV - Rich The Kid and Jay Critch: Rap’s Richest Bromance

Rich the Kid is one of the most hardworking and prolific rappers today, but he’s just as shrewd a tastemaker as he is a rapper. Between Migos, Lil Wayne, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Kendrick Lamar, and likely Frank Ocean, Rich boasts an enormous roster of dope collabs. But it’s the group of artists he’s signed to his own label, Rich Forever Music, that really showcase Rich’s ability to both weed out and collaborate with the biggest up-and-coming talents in the game. Case in point: Jay Critch. 

Brooklyn rapper Jay Critch made a name for himself with tracks like “Thousand Ways,” and has worked his way up to become the pride of the borough. So how did Jay Critch end up on Rich’s radar? 

“A mutual friend from Brooklyn, my man’s name Gramz,” Critch told Cipha Sounds on the latest episode of Fuse’s episode of Fuse’s What’s Ur Thing.. “He been cool with Rich for some time, so just through him knowing me and playing my stuff, and Rich heard it and we just linked up just like that.”

As Rich the Kid tells it, he wasted no time after the mutual friend Gramz put him on to Critch’s music. “I flew him out the next day,” he said in a 2016 interview. The two immediately hopped in the booth, and there was obviously a spark. Rich signed Jay to his Rich Forever Music in November 2016. “Now the labels keep calling.” 

The two make an unlikely pair; Rich is constantly amped, a sharp departure from Critch’s more relaxed demeanor. But between the swag, the showmanship, the bars, and the flow, their two distinct styles converge and complement each other perfectly. 

“Rich’s energy was different. He hype. I was always on some calm shit. But we work well together,” Critch said in an interview with Superstar Jay last year.

“Working well” is putting it lightly. Over the last few years their bromance has spawned tracks like the “Did It Again” remix, “Fashion,” and of course the highly anticipated Rich Forever 3 mixtape along with fellow Rich Forever Music signee Famous Dex. Last year saw Rich the Kid dropping his debut studio album, The World Is Yours and Jay Critch dropping his debut mixtape. 

With Rich the Kid already working on The World Is Yours 2 and Jay Critch set to go on his Hood Favorite tour, the two are staying busy. But of course the busier they stay, and the more they collab, the richer we’ll all be. 

Photo Credit: Jordan Hiraldo | jordanhilaldo@gmail.com