On the gritty blocks of Southside Richmond—what the locals call “The Bottom”—music seeps into the concrete like summer heat. For La Riskyy, that sound’s always been a lifeline and a blueprint. Growing up under the influence of giants like Michael Jackson and T-Pain, he learned early just how deep an artist’s hold on a crowd can run.
“I remember being glued to the screen watching Michael,” he says, a hint of awe still in his voice. “How he sung, how he moved, the way he could have thousands of people wrapped around his finger. I knew I wanted that kind of power. I wanted to move people too.” When T-Pain crashed onto the scene with a new sound, flipping autotune from a studio tool to a whole vibe, Riskyy paid close attention. He still laughs about the “I Am T-Pain” mic—a toy that let anyone try on the digital shimmer for themselves. “That mic was everywhere. I just loved the feeling of stepping into his world for a minute. That’s what got me thinking, maybe I could create my own world too.”
But inspiration hit closer to home as well. Watching his cousins, WTO Sco and NoonDaGoon, carve out their own space in the Richmond scene, filming videos and representing Ruffin Road Apartments, lit a real fire. “Seeing them go hard for our neighborhood, for the whole Southside—that was huge. It wasn’t just an idea anymore, it was real.”
Riskyy’s sound is rooted in those moments: part melodic, part raw confessional. If his childhood had gone differently, he might have ended up belting hymns in a church choir—his mom wanted that for him—but the streets had their own pull. There’s a stubborn honesty in his approach. “I don’t lie in my raps,” he says, flat. “Everything you hear? I did it, I’m doing it, or it’s about to happen. And I never walk around thinking I’m better than anybody else. What I do is for the people around me. I always put others before myself.”
That sense of responsibility runs deep, but so does a restless creativity. Riskyy won’t get boxed in. “I can rap on anything. Different beats, different cadences—doesn’t matter.”
As for his favorite lyric? It’s from his newest single, “My Way,” dropping December 19, 2025:
“Now look I told that bitch to put her hands up
like what you playin fa?
she say she all mines now
I told her make it clap on camera
I know this bitch a freak hoe
say she a dancer
I told her I’m a Scorpio ♏️
she told me she a cancer. ♋️”
“The sky is the limit,” Riskyy says, without hesitation. “I’m never putting a ceiling on what I can be or what I can do. Right now it’s about ‘My Way’ and pushing it everywhere I can.” For now, you can catch him grinding and connecting on Instagram @Hellariskyy, counting down the days till the single drops.
Southside is watching. Richmond is watching. The truth-teller from “The Bottom” is just getting started—and he isn’t leaving anyone behind.