Who is Roddy Ricch? The rapper taking over the world with Tik Tok viral song The Box

Roddy who?

Ricch – which is pronounced ‘rich’. His real name is Rodrick Moore, and he’s a rapper, singer, songwriter and producer from Compton, California.

And what is The Box?

The Box is a song from his debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. It’s not billed as an official single from the album (whatever that means), but it has taken off in a big way, thanks largely to TikTok.

Like Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road, then?

A bit, yes. Although unlike Lil Nas X, where TikTok was his launchpad, Roddy was already establishing himself as one of the most exciting new hip-hop artists in America, having already released a string of singles and two mixtapes. View Roddy Ricch's Official UK Chart history so far.

Is it another one of those dance challenge songs?

Yep there’s a dance challenge, but TikTok users have mostly been using The Box to soundtrack comedy skits, including the popular ‘how the song was made’ spoof, where people recreate unusual sounds in songs with everyday objects.

Sorry, what?

We’re talking about the squeaky sound heard in the intro. The song’s producer 30 Roc recently revealed Roddy came up with the sound himself in the studio, putting it in his “Top 5 adlibs”.

Has been popular outside of Tik Tok?

Very. It’s been Number 1 on America's Billboard Hot 100 and has so far peaked at Number 2 on the Official UK Singles Chart. It lost out on the Number 1 to Eminem by just 93 chart sales.

One more thing, what is 'The Box'?

It’s not clear, but it seems to be about jail, which Roddy has experience of. When he was 18 years old, he spent a week in prison when he faced a potential gun charge.