Review Fix Exclusive: Rico Davis Talks ‘Hustle Harder’

October 1, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Rico Davis, who discusses the inspiration behind his newest single, “Hustle Harder.”

Review Fix: What inspired “Hustle Harder”?

Rico Davis: What inspired Hustle Harder was the moment of clarity I had this past year when I stopped and realized that my life went from sleeping in stairwells to lawsuits and friends committing suicide. Living in the world is challenging, but being in business is a freakin’ suspense thriller. I wanted ppl to know what my grind is actually like and to be inspired to make a way out of no way as I am.

Review Fix: How do you hustle every day?

RD: Well This interview is one hustle haha. Another would be deciding to get up and be great every day. Deciding to get up and go manifest the thoughts and goals in my head. I also hustle by being myself and making a business out of it in a world where some black men sag their pants to be masculine and some women exploit their bodies only just so they are sexy.

Review Fix: How is this track different from your other work?

RD: This track is different in terms of the musical style. I wanted to throw ppl off that are close-minded in regards to music genres. The record has a LOT of hip-hop elements but when you listen to the lyrics it’s a combination of affirmations and self-confidence. I and my business partner Q purposely chose the lyric “Hustle” because regardless of what your occupation is we have our own unique “hustle” for gain. Also, I’m a millennial and I still enjoy the musicology of Gen X, the expertise and skill of the 70’s contemporary composers, and the soulful pain of the bluesy entertainers from the 50’s.  Those elements are in all my records and in this track – from the intricate harmonies, I arranged to the build of instrumentation.

Review Fix: What are your goals for it?

RD: To inspire those that F$@k with it. Nothing more, nothing less. Releasing the track through my own label is a success in itself.

Review Fix: Who will enjoy it the most?

RD: Anyone that has the courage to turn down the normal road to “success” and created that s!@t for themselves, Anyone that even thinks about life outside of societal programming and peer pressure.

Review Fix: What’s next?

RD: We’re dropping the visual for “Hustle Harder.” The video was heavily inspired by Queens “Bohemian Rhapsody” in terms of our use of spotlights and black space. I want ppl to interpret the symbology in the video. Hopefully, everyone is inspired and entertained by the song and the video as much as I am.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

RD: Look out for more music and more artists from my family over at Young America Records. We bout to be all the way up.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D_l7ijdY-g[/embedyt]

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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