After a year of relentless touring, Rittz is back in the booth and at the top of his game. 

Recently while in town for a Strangeulation Vol. II video shoot, we were able to catch up with Rittz and talk to him about his appearance on “We Just Wanna Party”, his thoughts on the newest Strange artist Darrein Safron, and work on his new album!

Check out part one of the interview below, part two coming soon!

“We Just Wanna Party”…at what point did you become involved with the track? Had you already heard what Darrein and Tech had done?

Yeah I did. Tech hit me up and said, “Yo, I got a track for you.” He had already sent “Slow To Me” to me, and was like, “Yo I got another one. I think this could be some single type shit.” He told me that was like an older track he was gonna use for Special Effects or another album and he told me that Darrein was getting in there, singing the hook, and I was like, “Yeah send it.” I really didn’t know what to expect. So, he sent it and I was at my crib and I was just like, “Aw man, this is right in my zone.” You know, so I was excited to write to it.

Speaking of Darrein, what are your thoughts on him so far? Professionally and as a person, because I’m sure you guys got to kick it a little bit during the video shoot.

We got to kick it a little bit during the video shoot. Unfortunately I had just got done coming off of a little run with Yelawolf, so I was really exhausted when I got here. So I haven’t really gotten to kick it with Darrein that much, but I will say this: he has an amazing voice and the range, his range is in such a cool range where he can go high, low and hit the notes.

He’s one of those guys, where you think they’ve peaked out hitting their highest note, and they can go even higher. Kind of like a Stevie Wonder type thing. Not comparing him to Stevie Wonder, I just mean in that kind of range, so I think he’s very talented. I think he’s a great addition, you know what I’m saying. And to me, just playing [the song] for my homies in Atlanta, they just loved the record and loved the hook. It sounds like something that could be on the radio…it should be on the radio.

You’ve also been working on your next album recently, right? Was it difficult at all to kind of switch gears in the midst of that process and get down on some Strangeulation shit?

No, it actually wasn’t, because it was exactly to a T what happened last year. What happens is, I normally – I got off tour, so I’m totally not in album-writing mode. I come home from tour and I’m really exhausted. I just want a little bit of normal life – and I know I’ve got an album coming up. So, I know that I have to shake off the normal life and stop sitting on this couch and watching TV and trying to be normal, and go back into writing mode.

A lot of rappers are in writing mode all the time. Me, not so much. I try to juggle and balance. I tour all the time, so when I’m home, I try to live a normal lifestyle to balance that out. Strangeulation, same as last year, kind of warms me up for writing my own album. It was literally exactly identical to what happened last year. I knew I had to write an album. Like “Hey, next week I gotta go in and write,” and then Strangeulation comes. And it’s like, “Okay I’ll use Strangeulation as a training period to write my own records.”

This year, same with last year, I got hit with some really good records with Strangeulation and it really got me excited to just start writing my own records. Most rappers, they’re always constantly writing. I’m just not like that. I’m constantly touring.

What’d you think of Rittz’s verse on “We Just Wanna Party?”

Let us know in the comments section below.

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TECH N9NE COLLABOS: STRANGEULATION VOL. II!