Rico Beats facts for kids

Ricardo Lamarre, known professionally as Rico Beats, is an American record executive, record producer, and songwriter. He is famous for producing hit songs like DJ Khaled's "Take That Off", Nicki Minaj's "Roman Reloaded", Soulja Boy's "Mean Mug", Iggy Azalea's "Comme Des Garcons", and Pusha T's "Exodus 23:1".

He also helped manage the late American rapper Pop Smoke alongside record executive Steven Victor.

Rico Beats' Music Journey

Starting as a Producer

In 2004, while in college, Rico Beats decided he wanted to become a music producer. He was inspired after hearing a song called "Bang Bang" by Young Buck, produced by Needlz. Rico started following Needlz's work. It turned out they had a friend in common, who introduced them.

Rico really looked up to Needlz. He even bought the same music equipment to try and create a similar sound. Needlz was using a program called Logic at the time. Rico saw Needlz's success with it, but he felt it took too long to make a beat using Logic.

Finding His Own Sound

So, Rico decided to try something different. He started using a program called Ableton. Most other producers were using Fruity Loops or Logic Pro. Rico wanted to stand out and be unique, so he explored Ableton to create his own special sound.

Making Hits with Famous Artists

In 2010, Rico produced the song "Mean Mug" for Soulja Boy's album The DeAndre Way. Rico had hoped to work on Nicki Minaj's first album, Pink Friday, but he was busy with Soulja Boy at the time.

Later, Nicki Minaj's manager called Rico. They were starting to work on Nicki's second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, and wanted him to send some beats. Rico didn't have any ready at that moment. So, he worked hard and made fifty new beats within the next month. Out of all those, Nicki chose "Roman Reloaded" for her album.

In January 2012, Rico was in a studio in Los Angeles, trying to get more of his music on Nicki's album. Nicki visited and played a short part of "Roman Reloaded," which wasn't finished yet. The complete song was officially released on February 24, 2012.

Working with Pusha T

In 2013, Rico produced a song for Pusha T called "Exodus 23:1". This song was known for expressing strong feelings about another artist, Drake. Some people thought Lil Wayne might be upset by the song, but his name was not mentioned during the recording.

Rico told MTV News that they weren't thinking about the Young Money label when they made the song. He said that when they were listening to the song, no one mentioned any specific names. He explained that Dream and Pusha T just got into their creative zone. Pusha T kept telling Rico he needed a "dark" sound for his album. Rico went to the studio, listened to music by Biggie, and then created the beat for Pusha T.

Future Projects

Rico Beats has also produced two songs for Jadakiss's upcoming album. One of these songs will feature the rapper Jeezy. Rico has also been working with other artists like Sean Kingston, Fabolous, and Jay Z. He even had one of his beats chosen by Jennifer Lopez, who was still deciding how to use it.