User:Jodieellison/sandbox/Ricky West

Ricky West is an American R&B and Hip Hop artist hailing from Los Angeles, Ca, where he grew up listening to Dancehall Music which eventually led to an for Hip Hop and R&B.

Early Life:
Ricky grew up in a liberal South Asian household where his mother and father were both classically trained musicians and used their talents to teach and perform Indian Music on the weekends to make extra income. Ricky's brother became a professional level Indian Percussionist when he was still a child. Ricky was more interested in being out in the street late into the night with his neighborhood kids and did not take music seriously despite his parents' encouragement.

Early Career
Though Ricky did not apply himself to music, he had palpable talent both musically and lyrically. It was in college that Ricky first started to dabble in music, forming a hip hop trio with his roommates called Platinum Trio. West was more interested in rapping, but due to his strong but emotional voice, he usually sang the hook of their songs. He also ghostwrote many verses for people featured on Platinum Trio's songs. The group put out one mixtape titled "It's Not a Mixtape, It's a Disstape" targeted at a rival rap group living on another block C121. The rivalry was competitive culminating in a rap battle at a large hip hop event in South Central Los Angeles in 2009. The group disbanded in 2011 to pursue solo endeavors but still stayed in close contact.

Solo Career
Ricky started making pure hip hop under a different moniker, which to this day he has not revealed. His songs from this period are thought to be on Spotify though there is no confirmation. Producers quickly realized Ricky had a strong voice, and started working on hooks and riffs with Ricky in songs. He progressed to become a lyrical R&B singer, but still considers himself a rapper, much like Juicewrld, his main influence.

Masked Identity
Ricky is known to wear a trademark half mask at all of his public events. The mask is symbol of the universality of music. Ricky feels that many artists are boxed into genres due to their ethnicity or skin color. Ricky wants to obscure all of that, and avoid being boxed into the confines of just one genre. There are rumors that the mask is covering a scar that Ricky sustained while incapacitating a man with a gun and a knife. Others say it is to cover up burn wound. Finally others say it is to cover up self inflicted wounds though none of this has been substantiated

Music Catalog
Ricky has recently put out a deluge of music, with his single Maribel gaining popularity locally in Ricky's hometown in Southern California. He also put out a 3 pack series of songs including Front Row, Scary Hours, and the haunting anthem Jail.