Rico Love

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Rico Love
Rico on the cover of Superstar Music mixtape w/ Don Cannon
Rico on the cover of Superstar Music mixtape w/ Don Cannon
Background information
Birth name Richard Butler, Jr.
Also known as The President of the United State of Milwaukee
Born December 3, 1982
Origin Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Genre(s) hip hop, Midwest Rap, Pop-rap
Occupation(s) rapper, songwriter
Years active 2003 - present
Label(s) Division 1/Crownworld Ent./US Records/J Records/The Union Party
Associated acts Usher
One Chance
CornaBoyz
Mase
Hell's Angels
Le'Che Martin
Scottie Knoxx
B. Rossi aka Ay-Wun
Juelz Santana
Website www.ricoloveonline.com

Rico Love (born Richard Butler, Jr. on December 3, 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American rapper and songwriter.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Rico was born in New Orleans, but when his parents divorced he split his time between Milwaukee and Harlem. He enrolled at the legendary African-American Childrens Theater at 10, but soon left to become part of the hip-hop circuit, where he won many various rap battles & talent shows. Later on he went to college at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. In Milwaukee, he attended Believer's In Christ Christian Training Academy, which allowed for him to express his musical talents. After graduating, he moved to Atlanta to pursue a career as a rap artist. While there, he opened at a concert for Usher, leading to him becoming the first artist signed to Usher's label, US Records, a subsidiary of J Records.[1]

[edit] Division 1 Records

Rico manages his own independent record label, Division 1 Records, based in Milwaukee. Artists on the label include R&B singer Le'Che Martin (who was on MTV's Making tha Band 3) and rappers Scottie Knoxx, B. Rossi aka (Ay-Wun), RayNitti, Killa Khalid, and Kashus.

[edit] Other notabilities

  • Protege of rapper Mase.
  • Rico is also a songwriter, writing hits such as Usher's "Throwback," and Marques Houston's "All Because of You." In fact, VIBE magazine hails him as the second-best songwriter in R&B, behind only Ne-Yo.[citation needed]
  • Despite having lived in five different cities in his lifetime (and currently living in Lithonia, Georgia), Rico considers Milwaukee his hometown.[citation needed]
  • Often mentions in his raps that he has never sold any drugs, but still makes very much money and gets a lot of women. (His track, "Money Right", dissed the drug-rap culture, citing its negative influence on today's youth, and could be interpreted as a shot at Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, and/or several others.)
  • Currently on hiatus from active rapping; part of songwriting/production team Runawayz with Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic), Sam Watters (formerly of Color Me Badd), Wayne Wilkins, and Louis Biancaniello.
  • He is also currently finishing work on Ciara's new album "Fantasy Ride". Slated for a September release.

[edit] Songwriting credits

Note: Since August of 2007, several demos of songs Rico wrote for other artists have leaked via file-sharing sites and urban music blogs. This happened without Rico's permission, and in numerous cases, the songs were obviously written for female artists. Here is a list of such demos-should you spot them on any streaming sites, report them to site management immediately!

  • "So Beautiful" (written for Tynisha Keli, produced by Timbaland)
  • "Body Talk"
  • "Still In My Heart"
  • "Get Away" (with Aaron; an unrelated Rico Love collabo with Le'Che Martin and produced by Rich Harrison with the same name is legitimate)
  • "Slow Down"
  • "LA Girls"
  • "Driving Like A Bitch"
  • "Killa"
  • "Human Nature" (with K. Smith)
  • "Watch Me Go (with Yui)
  • "As Good" (demo for Usher)
  • "Fight For Love"

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • The 5th Element ยท (scheduled to be released summer 2008)

[edit] Singles

from soundtrack to In the Mix (2005)

from The 5th Element (2007)

  • "I'm a Pimp" (Feat. Bo Hagon & Jody Breeze)
  • "Don't Stop"
  • "What You Sayin'" (Feat. Usher)
  • "Catch My Breath"
  • "Best in the World"
  • "Money Right"
  • "It's OK"
  • "Bang Out" feat. Rock City

Album appearances:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Artist Profile - Rico Love

[edit] External links