R2R Moe: The Road to Riches and Resonance

Harlem’s R2R MOE steps into the forefront to cement his presence and longevity within the music scene with his new project titled “Road to Riches Pt.1”. I sat down with him to speak a little about the project, his aspirations for music, and the stories he wants to tell. Moe mentioned that this latest project is one of the things he’s been most excited to release in some time, as it encapsulates a full body of work that he worked from the ground up; above all, the project makes sense.

Moe effortlessly blends crisp runs, scintillating beat selection, and hearty 808s to create a unique encapsulation of the New York sound, and collaboration with producer and long-time friend Eddy Rivers means he’s never far from the booth, should inspiration take him at any moment.

“If I ever get that feeling like “yo I need to go record right now”, like it’s nothing to just call Eddy and go straight to the studio. On top of that, we don’t write. So, it’s like however we’re feeling or however I’m feeling in the moment.”

When talking about the differences in his approach to previous projects compared to “Road to Riches Pt. 1,” Moe referenced the fact that previously one of his goals was to introduce himself to his listeners, whereas he’s now shifted to showcasing that he’s here to stay. With a vast demographic of listeners globally, Moe takes pride in consistently putting his music in the hands of new ears to hear how they’ll receive it:

“I’ll play it for a girl, then I’ll play it for my step-pops, and then I’ll play it for my mom, and I want to see all three of their reactions.” Just so I know when I’m playing these songs and people start to get a hold of these, all different audiences are going to like what’s coming out.”

Across 12 tracks, it’s not always easy to select a handful that stand out, but Moe let me know a few that are his favourites. ‘WHO NOT LIT’ is the dreamy intro that started it all, exploring themes of personal growth, all whilst floating across an expertly curated sample.

“I had a whole project done already, and then we made Who Not Lit and I went home, I called my brothers in the group chat and I’m like… I think I want to do the whole album over from scratch. And they’re like, if anybody could do it, you could do it, bro. I had like three weeks till my deadline.”

Moe picked out ‘12AM in HOUSTON’ as his favourite track on the project, referencing a likeness to the outro of his last project – ‘MR. R2R’, as well as the deep-hitting content of the lyrics he weaves within hi-hats and snares, creating a sonically encompassing experience that makes R2R Moe a pleasure to play in your speakers.

I also spoke to Moe surrounding the song/s that were the most fun to create, and he spoke about the experience of live instrumentalists putting together a melody from the ‘Midnight Club’ game series, and that is how the song of the same name came about. In turn, Moe mentioned that the influence of live instrumentation means experimenting with riffs and flows during the initial stages of recording, providing him with more options for live performances, including improvising and key arrangement.

“It’s just it’s cool doing the music like actually live. Like not waiting for a beat, not pulling up a beat I already have, like starting from scratch. Let’s find the melody. Let’s find the high hats together. Let’s do everything together. It’s how the music comes out the best.”

Melodic drill has been on the rise in recent years, with many monikers including ‘Sample Drill’ or ‘Sexy Drill’ popularised by multiple artists and producers in the New York space, and Moe spoke a little on the influences that it’s had on his sound, as well as his progression within music. Moe spoke about the fact that his initial foray into music was very organic, and he developed authentically whilst focusing on the personal experiences that shaped him along with his music:

“It’s actually super funny how it all works with New York and how fast the music scene started to change. When I first started making music, I didn’t really know anything about the music scene because we were just regular kids from Harlem; we were playing football, going to school, and decided to start rapping. So, we didn’t really know too much about sexy drill. We listened to people like Shawny Binlanden, Cash, and all these guys, but we didn’t know that it was a classified category like melodic drill or like sample drill.”

“We was making music, talking about our hardships and the stuff we was going through, and then all of a sudden, like it just started working out.”

Moe is also under the wing of UK juggernaut Skepta, building a relationship that supersedes the parasitic nature of the music industry, including performing at Skepta’s Big Smoke Fest, as Skepta reached out to Moe’s team soon after hearing ‘Fair to Me,’ and the pair created ‘Miss Independent’ with the help of producer Powr Trav.

“Bro just showed me the ropes for real. Coming around it was just a lot of knowledge that was just being taken in. Like everything bro was telling me is stuff that I’m seeing little by little as I’m going along in the industry. And we ended up meeting just on a music vibe. So for it to become more personal and us being cool? It’s amazing. I can text bro right now like, “Yo, how you doing? How’s your day?” And he’s gonna text me back. From just working on a song together to the fact that we’ve got this relationship.”

All in all, R2R Moe has done an impeccable job in encapsulating his ever-evolving journey in music. His facile ability to flip between melodic runs and gritty bars makes him an artist with more than enough talent to keep an eye on, and with his continued exponential growth, it won’t be long before the stocks begin to produce returns that far outperform their initial investments.

“I’m excited, man. Everybody go tune in. I wouldn’t be telling you listen for no reason. I know it’s biased cuz every rapper’s going to tell you go listen to their s***, but this one this one is actually a little bit special. Feel me?” –  R2R Moe