Rizzoo Rizzoo Makes Waves Like No Other
If one can fly a drone over the city of Houston, you’ll notice the wide spaces that captivate the Bayou City. From the skyline and NRG Stadium to Discovery Green and many other landmarks, these are what define the city’s heritage. While these spaces and places define who we are as Houstonians, The Sauce Factory tidal wave has captured many of our hearts and influenced the world to get into what this new generation of Houston has to offer. The advocates responsible for the “Sauce” dripping outbreak are the Sauce Twinz and Sosamann with records such as “2 Legited 2 Quited” and “Did A Whole Lot,” but the catalyst who provided the completeness to their flavor has to be Rizzoo Rizzoo, the X-Factor of the collective, the go-to guy for choruses, and possibly the smartest artist in Houston right now.
Before the TSF family gained their fame throughout the city and beyond, the mega group were divided into two separate entities: Moe Gang (Rizzoo Rizzoo, Rodji Diego, and 5th Ward JP) which represented the North Side, and the Sauce Twinz, which represented the South Side. When both forces came together, it brought such an energy that was undoubtedly influential, contagious, and inspiring to see because it altered the perspective on what the “Houston” hip hop sound portrayed. The new sounds being delivered strayed away from the roots of screw and transformed into upbeat hook-heavy jams, which all came from Rizzoo Rizzoo.
At the time when TSF when was on the rise, Rizzoo’s primary role was hooks and nothing else. Seeing an artist take this position was selfless and it showed how much energy he would put into a song with only having a couple of bars to use, but those bars would be the thing that everyone would remember. The genius strategy behind this plan birthed the instant city-wide classics such as “Flava In Ya Ear,” “Handcuffs,” “Drip” and “Amazing.” Aside from these songs being the launching pad to his career, he crafted his first project, ITZ Hot, with features from the likes of Slim Thug, Kirko Bangz, Sauce Walka, Hoodstar Chantz, and Dice Soho. He garnered the city’s attention by lacing hooks for some of the strongest songs to come out that year and this would only be the beginning to what else he had in his arsenal.
As time progressed, so did Rizzoo’s artistry. While he became comfortable in his craftsmanship, he extended his hooks into verses, opening the gates to the success of his second project, ITZ Hot Sauce. This mixtape played a pivotal part in his modern day success because it was the first opportunity he had to gather some of the hottest artists today on one project. Before Lil Uzi Vert and 21 Savage graced the XXL Freshman Cover and played sold out shows across the country, they were both featured on Rizzoo’s mixtape. Aside from recruiting these two, he snatched Fool’s Gold signed artist Danny Brown, XXL freshman candidate YFN Lucci, and ASAP Mob member ASAP Ant, as well as Cool Amerika, who earned a No. 25 spot on Billboard Hip Hop Charts this past year. The wide range of artists that he’s shown to have one project alone displays the versatility of his artistry.
Along with showcasing the variety of talent that Rizzoo has in reach, this also accounts for what type of opportunities come his way as well. From headlining his own show at Eastdown Warehouse to rocking the stage with Ape Drums at Fool’s Gold Day Off, it’s not often that a locally-based hip-hop artist has this much flexibility when it comes to their sound and who they choose to work with. The fact that Rizzoo is accomplishing all of these things before going on a nationwide tour shows how far ahead of the curve he is when it comes to his curation and how he’s able to mesh diverse artists on various records. The significance behind his tastemaking is that he’s doing these things before everyone is hip to it and he’s cultivating the city’s ear while doing so.
Stay tuned for Rizzoo Rizzoo to continue to kick “Flava In Ya Ear” later this year as well as he anticipates everyone for his upcoming project, Drip Flair.
