Rican Da Menace is 'Aiming for the Stars' When It Comes to Her Rap Career (EXCLUSIVE)

The culture is starting to take notice of Rican Da Menace, the next female MC poised to make a big splash in the rap game. Since bursting into the scene in 2022 with the release of her first official single, “Ain’t Going Back," Rican has been building up a nice buzz for herself with each subsequent drop.

Interestingly enough, while being interviewed by BleuMag, the video teaser for her track with Moneybagg Yo ("DUMB") had just dropped on YouTube.

Scoring a collaboration with Moneybagg Yo, one of the biggest stars in rap today, shows that Rican is on her way up. When I talked to Rican via Zoom, she was active and in the middle of making her moves for the day. As she spoke, there was this zest in her voice, the type of excitement that a young budding artist feels when stars are aligning.

Get to know Rican, the artists she's most inspired by, and the obstacles she's overcome to reach the point she's at today.

After she began putting music out, Foxy Brown became one of her earliest supporters and co-signers. When asked who some of her early musical inspirations were, she credits hip-hop giants like Jadakiss and The Lox, but named Nicki Minajand Foxy as key influences.

With rappers of that caliber as sources of inspiration, it is easy to see why Rican's music connects with audiences the way it does. Her voice commands the track while she glides through hard-hitting production with an almost effortless flow.

With her type of talent, it's eye-opening that music was something that the Baltimore native did not really take seriously at first. It was just something to do. It was not until after Rican experienced a personal tragedy that music became something more.

While in San Francisco, Rican was shot, resulting in her having to undergo multiple surgeries. Forced to be inside while recovering, Rican began to develop a new perspective on her career and life. With nothing but time on her hands, she began taking music seriously, recording for at least four hours daily, grinding. During that time, she began to find her voice and honed in on her craft.

In 2022, Rican would start to see the fruits of her labor after dropping a barrage of singles and videos on YouTube that included “Ain’t Going Back," "Uh Ohhh,’’ and “I Admit It," amongst others. In many of her early videos, Rican is putting on for her hometown of Baltimore.“Yeah, we always bring the city out,” Rican admitted to BleuMag.

Although few artists from Baltimore break out into mainstream hip-hop, Rican says that alone serves as an open lane for her to slide in and continue to do what she does for her city.

And Rican has big plans. She doesn't view herself as some short-term fad, a here today gone tomorrow type of artist. She sees herself having longevity in the game and one day having her name mentioned alongside the names of those she idolizes.

“I have a lot of other music, too, that people don’t know about. I’m touching on some deep, deep topics that other artists do not really talk about because they may be too embarrassed to do it, or they are just shy or whatever the case may be. I want people to feel they are not alone when they hear my music. The point of music is to make people feel good,” Rican explained.

While Rican joked, “I want to leak everything right now, That's how good the music," she also knows she has to "be patient" and play by the rules of the game (to an extent).

When asked how far she plans on taking her career, we weren't surprised when Rican replied, "I’m aiming for the stars."

If you want to keep up with Rican and stay current with her lastest projects, you can follow her official instagram account @ricandamenace.