In 2012 an unusual track was released on Youtube, it was entitled ‘Neato’ and was by a collective of three Los Angeles based rappers called Three Loco. The beat was strange and spacey, and the video was wildly surreal, and different from anything seen before.
The trio was fronted by rapper Andy Milonakis, a man well into his forties, but who somehow, magically had the appearance of a teenager. Andy was joined by Simon Rex, an actor, comedian and rapper, who performed under the name Dirt Nasty, and who had previously received a moderate amount of success with his starring role in Scary Movie 3, and several other films. The last, and by far the most enigmatic of the three was a character by the name of Riff Raff.
Many hip-hop and rap fans were unsure initially if the group was serious, or whether they were a parody of rap and the hip-hop scene. Although Riff Raff is still considered to be musically unsophisticated by some, he has acquired a hard-core of fans who consider him a genius of the genre. But how has the rapper from Texas made his money during his unusual and sometimes surreal rise to fame?
Riff Raff Net Worth – $5 Million
How Did Riff Raff Make His Money & Wealth?
Riff Raff was born as Horst Christian Simco on January 29th, 1982 in Houston, Texas. His father Ronald was a police officer and former Vietnam war veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, mom Anita was descended from Lithuanian and German Jews who had fled the horrors of Nazi Germany during World War Two.
Riff Raff began rapping in 2005 and was soon handing out home-made CD’s of his work in shopping-malls in Houston and Dallas. The samples he used in his tracks were strongly influenced by fellow Houston rapper Paul Wall, and veteran Texan rapper Devin the Dude.
The rise of Social Media was timed perfectly for Riff Raff to launch his online presence a few years later, and from 2008 onwards he began releasing songs, mixes and freestyles on WorldStarHipHop, MySpace and Youtube. His first manager, DB da Boss supplied the young rapper with studio time to produce his videos, and he was immediately impressed by Riff Raff’s determination to become a success.
With his sights on a television career Riff Raff went through a series of auditions, even to the extent of claiming to still be a teenager in order to get a part in a commercial. He applied for P.Diddy’s Making the Band but had no success there either. In 2009, showing the kind of commitment that he has become known for, Riff Raff flew to Atlanta to audition for ‘From G’s to Gents’, a new MTV reality show. When he finally achieved his first breakthrough, and was selected to appear on the second series of the show, Riff Raff immediately tattooed the MTV logo onto his neck in order to stand out from the crowd.
With his Corn-row braids and fang-like teeth, complete with glittering grills, the White rapper from Dallas found that being noticed was easy, once he had actually made it onto the airwaves. Riff Raff was eliminated from the show during the second episode, but he had already made his mark, and gained a cult following, due to his outlandish style and quick witted improvised humor.
Prolific producer The Alchemist noticed Riff Raff’s freestyle performances on Youtube in the same year, and brought him to the attention of Simon Rex, Rex contacted Riff Raff and the two rappers became friends. The pair began recording collaborations in 2010, with Riff Raff picking up many new fans from Simon’s fan-base. In 2012 they were joined by the eternally youthful Andy Milonakis, and together they formed the comedy rap group Three Loco. The three rappers attitude towards the seriousness of their music was possibly best summed up by Simon Rex, who compared their sound to ‘Martha Stewart giving birth to a chalk board’ shortly after Neato was released that year.
Riff Raff’s popularity grew, and his Youtube account began picking up many new subscribers after his collaboration with Milonakis and Rex. He had released several solo efforts throughout his time with Three Loco, and collaborated with Chief Keef on ‘Cuz my gear’ in 2012. Later that same year he released his first mix tape ‘Birth of an Icon’, which was awarded Mixtape of the Week by the Online music blog Stereogum. He followed that achievement up with the release of his independently produced first album ‘The Golden Alien’.
In 2013, Riff Raff had a brush with the law in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was arrested after police claimed to have found an open container of alcohol in his vehicle, as well as marijuana and another, unnamed illegal substance. Riff Raff spent one night in jail as a result, but in typical untouchable fashion, was released the next day, without bail. No charges were ever levelled against the rapper as a result of the incident, and he has claimed since that the allegations were completely without foundation.
Riff Raff’s commitment and work ethic saw him produce and release a large amount of work from that time onwards. He toured regularly across the United States and Canada and, in 2014, he released his first studio album ‘Neon Icon’, as well as a large number of additional tracks that had not made the final cut for the album, most notably amongst them ‘Dolce & Gabbana’. Rolling Stone listed the album as one of its top 20 ‘must hear albums of 2014’.
Riff Raff’s second studio album, ‘Peach Panther’ was due to be released in mid 2015, but was eventually delayed until early 2016, although Riff Raff had been uploading several tracks from the album before it was finally released, including ‘Spazz Out’, and an EP called ‘Trench Coat Towers’.
In April 2016 Riff Raff revealed that he had signed a $4 million partnership deal with BMG and Stampede management, to assist him in building ‘an entertainment empire’, according to the man himself. His Youtube channel, which is under his current pseudonym, Jody Highroller, has built up hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and he regularly receives millions of views for his videos, but the recent deal with BMG is believed to have brought his personal wealth, now in 2018, up to at least $5 million.
Riff Raff Personal Life and FAQ’s
Is Riff Raff Married?
How Much did Riff Raff make in 2016?
Although Riff Raff’s earnings before 2016 were estimated to be no more than $500,000 annually, mainly from his Youtube earnings, celebrity appearances, and his hectic touring schedule, his recent deal with BMG has catapulted his yearly income above a million dollars in 2016, reputedly for the first time, and they are likely to stay above that level in the future.
Riff Raff’s House
Riff Raff’s Car
Riff Raff has had a number of high-end expensive sports cars, including a Lamborghini and a $200,000 Aston Martin he bought from multi-genre artist DJ Skee, but the most impressive of all of Riff Raff’s vehicles was a brand-new Porsche Panamera 911 that he bought for a cool $1 million in 2014.
Spring Breakers Legal Action
In 2013 the rapper announced he was suing James Franco and the creators of Spring Breakers over their portrayal of him in the film, as the lead character Alien. Franco denied the charge and claimed that the character was based on the underground rapper Dangeruss, although the director of the movie, Harmony Korine admitted contacting Riff Raff before filming to discuss a possible part for the rapper. Even though no case ever came to court, Riff Raff was claiming to have been paid over $2.5 million in royalties by Franco in mid 2013.
Riff Raff’s Physical Transformation
