Richie Branson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richie Branson
Background information
Birth name	Marcus Brown II
Born	November 18, 1985 (1985-11-18) (age 39)
Origin	San Antonio, Texas, USA
Genres	Nerdcore
Occupation(s)	Rapper, game designer, music producer
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Otaku Gang

Richie Branson (born Marcus Brown II on November 18, 1985) is an American rapper, music producer, and game designer. He is a well-known artist in the nerdcore music scene. Nerdcore is a type of hip-hop music with lyrics about "nerdy" topics like video games, science fiction, and anime.

Branson's stage name was inspired by the British businessman Richard Branson. He is also known as the "Otaku King" and is the founder of the music group Otaku Gang. Besides music, he has voiced the character Jake Stonewall in the web series Camp Camp and created some of its ending theme songs.

Music Career

How It Started

Before becoming a nerdcore rapper, Richie Branson produced music for other artists. He even signed a record deal in 2011. However, he soon realized that he wasn't passionate about making mainstream pop music.

Branson wanted to make music about things he loved, like video games. His career in nerdcore began in December 2011. While taking a break from playing the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, he heard the game's theme music. This inspired him to create a hip-hop song based on it.

First Nerdcore Albums

In February 2012, Branson released a free album called The Cold Republic – Episode I: The Empire Likes Rap. It was a 12-song album inspired by his experiences playing The Old Republic. The album became popular in the nerdcore community. Major gaming websites like Joystiq and The Jace Hall Show wrote about it. A local TV station in his hometown of San Antonio even filmed a music video for his song "Looking For A Group".

Soon after, Branson released a song called "Letter To Squaresoft". In the song, he shared his feelings that the video game company Square Enix wasn't making games as good as they used to. The song got attention from gaming news sites all over the world.

The Wing Zero EP

Branson then announced he was working on an album based on the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. The album was called The Wing Zero EP.

The album was a big hit in the anime community. The famous manga publisher TOKYOPOP shared his music on their social media pages. The anime streaming service Crunchyroll praised the album for being focused and fun to listen to. Many websites related to comics and anime also featured music from the album.

Bring Back Toonami

In May 2012, Branson released a song called "Bring Back Toonami". The song was about the popular Toonami programming block on Adult Swim. Many fans wanted Toonami to return to television.

Adult Swim heard the song and started using it in their commercials. When Toonami officially returned, Adult Swim used another one of Branson's songs as the theme for the first broadcast. After this success, Branson went on a national tour with the artists MC Chris and Powerglove.

Life After Death Star

In 2015, Branson and producer Solar Slim formed a group called Otaku Gang. Their first big project was Life After Death Star. This album was a mash-up, mixing the music of the famous rapper The Notorious B.I.G. with themes and sounds from Star Wars.

The album became a viral hit online. News sites like Nerdist praised it. While it was never officially sold in stores, fans made their own copies, including on vinyl records.

Otaku Gang

Branson earned the nickname "Otaku King" early in his career. An "otaku" is a Japanese term for someone with a deep interest in things like anime and manga.

When he released Life After Death Star, he introduced his new group, Otaku Gang. The group started with Branson, producer Solar Slim, and graphic designer Plush Giant. They released more mixtapes together. Later, the group added new members, including Kadesh Flow, NyteXing, and others.

Game Development

Besides making music, Richie Branson also develops video games. In 2015, he created a game called Shafed for a 72-hour game-making competition.

He later worked as a game designer for Harmonix Music Systems. He also worked for Epic Games as a designer on the Festival game mode in Fortnite. More recently, he created a popular browser game called "Not Like Us: The Game," which was inspired by the hit song "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar.

Discography

Albums

• From the Underground to the Stars (2020)

Production

• Chalie Boy – "Let It Drop"
• Sun feat. Slim Thug – "Round and Round"
• Mega Ran – "First Day Of School"
• Mega Ran – "Everything

EPs

• The Cold Republic – Episode I: The Empire Likes Rap (2012)
• The Wing Zero EP (2012)
• OtakuTuesdays Vol. I (2012)
• The NERD EP (2012)
• OtakuTuesdays Vol. II (2012)
• The Ghouls 'N Ghosts EP (with Mega Ran) (2012)
• From Guardia With Love (2013)
• Ghouls 'N Ghosts II (with Mega Ran) (2013)
• OtakuTuesdays Vol. III (2014)

Singles

• "Jersey Shore Fist Pump" (2011)
• "Letter To Squaresoft" (2012)
• "Bring Back Toonami" (2012)
• "Toonami's Back ..." (2012)
• "Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis" (with Mega Ran) (2012)
• "Seig Zeon" (2012)
• "Bring Back Chrono" (2013)
• "MechaGod" (2014)
• "Finish Him" (2014)
• "Aznable Dreams" (2016)
• "MEGA MAN CYPHER" (feat. Mega Ran) (2017)
• "Ask DNA" [IchiGO! 2018 Remix] - Raj Ramayya & Richie Branson (2018)