Earlier than R&B-leaning singer Tommy Richman vaulted into the mainstream dialog, he recorded music in his mother’s basement. An ardent supporter of her son’s profession, she’d usually inform him her favourite songs — however oddly sufficient, his breakthrough hit hardly cracks the listing. “‘Million Greenback Child,’ that’s the one all people likes?” Richman playfully teases throughout our Zoom dialog in late Might, mirroring his mother’s response. “She likes a variety of older songs far more and [other] stuff off the album, too.” However whereas his mother and father will not be captivated by the ‘80s funk-inspired monitor, the remainder of the nation has been infatuated, giving him a gradual top-5 Billboard Sizzling 100 hit.
A local of Woodbridge, Va., Richman, 24, grew up listening to 50 Cent and Lil Wayne. Although the small city close to the nation’s capital lacked an energetic music scene, he earned a few of his musical sensibilities from his father, a drum trainer. And regardless of many residents working authorities jobs, his musical aspirations trumped the thought of a conventional 9-to-5 profession. He self-released the somber single “Pleasantville” on YouTube as a freshman in school; then, he spammed numerous YouTube pages linking to it and urging listeners to “be brutally sincere with the final track I posted.”
The optimistic suggestions he acquired on-line inspired Richman to chase music as a full-time profession, and in 2022, he met Darren Xu, COO of Brent Faiyaz’s imprint, ISO Supremacy, and his now-manager. Earlier than lengthy, Xu felt Richman was able to take the following step and related him with Faiyaz. By final August, the 2 artists have been in enterprise as nicely, with Richman signing a file cope with ISO Supremacy in partnership with PULSE Music Group. He additionally joined Faiyaz on his F*ck the World, It’s a Wasteland Tour that summer time, and in October, they collaborated on Faiyaz’ Bigger Than Life album standout “Upset” alongside FELIX!, which reached No. 12 on Billboard’s Sizzling R&B Songs chart.
“[My team] values me as an individual,” Richman says. “Lots of people take a look at you as an object: ‘Now we have to remain round this man as a result of he makes good songs.’ This sh-t wouldn’t have actually transpired like that if we didn’t get alongside as folks.”
He provides that “Drake reached out tremendous early after I put out [2023 single] ‘Final Nite.’” And because the A-list cosigns started to build up, Richman’s confidence grew. He launched two grooving singles in 2024 earlier than his breakthrough, first with “Soulcrusher” after which “Egocentric.” On April 13, Richman uploaded a teaser of one other monitor — what would finally change into “Million Greenback Child” — to social media, shot in a grainy VHS type and that includes the artist and his buddies dancing to the beat within the studio. It went viral, garnering over 12.5 million views on TikTok alone, as his falsetto within the infectious refrain shortly struck a chord with followers: “Trigger I wish to make it so badly/I’m one million greenback child, don’t at me,” he sings.
“It was the mixture of the sound of the VHS digital camera, the vibe of the folks within the studio, how brief the snippet was and the way in your face the audio was,” says Richman. “The audio is actually loud. I evaluate the audio to my different TikToks, and the one snippet is in your face. I believe that’s why it caught on.”
He adopted it with just a few extra clips, and in accordance with PULSE Music Group vp of promoting Sara Ahmed, they made the choice to drop the track simply 4 days earlier than its final April 26 launch. Richman turned within the grasp recording at 1:00 a.m. on April 23. “I constructed him a rollout [plan to] construct into the hype of the track,” she says. “We didn’t have a lot lead time to [create] a marketing campaign.”
Nonetheless, “Million Greenback Child” had a seismic debut, netting 38 million official U.S. streams in its first full monitoring week (April 26-Might 2), in accordance with Luminate. It entered at No. 2 on the Sizzling 100, and atop Billboard’s Streaming Songs, Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Sizzling R&B Songs charts — a very notable feat given the monitor was launched amid the vicious hip-hop battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Lamar’s “Euphoria” arrived as “Million Greenback Child” was gaining momentum; in the identical weekend as its launch, Drake’s “Household Issues” and Lamar’s “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” dropped, elevating the culture-defining feud. However even because the heavyweights threatened to stymy his opening week numbers, Richman remained unfazed.
“It was a blessing, low-key,” Richman relays. “I used to be studying a variety of feedback like, ‘Rattling, that is just like the worst time to drop your track.’ It was type of humorous. Lots of people checked out us like we have been the palate cleanse.”
“There’s nothing on the market like this,” Ahmed provides. “I believe individuals are on the lookout for one thing new, thrilling and totally different, and Tommy is it. This nice track coupled with sharp technique and Tommy’s dedication actually carried the track by way of — and we’ve got barely scratched the floor.”
Gustavo Soriano
In 5 weeks on the Sizzling 100, “Million Greenback Child” has remained a fixture within the prime 10, and in accordance with Richman, the track’s music video will arrive forward of summer time. As for a possible remix, followers shouldn’t get their hopes up. “There’s no remix, man,” he says. “A pair folks [have reached out]. It’s cool, however for the integrity of the monitor, let’s maintain it by itself.”
As Richman savors his newfound success, he’s already chipping away at his debut album, Coyote. Although he doesn’t have a launch date, Richman believes his mission will showcase his artistry past being a one-hit surprise.
“This can be a large file, however this s–t doesn’t outline me,” he says. “I’m utilizing this as ‘We’re right here. We arrived.’ Not as ‘We made it!’ That is the beginning of a run.”
A model of this story will seem within the June 8, 2024, difficulty of Billboard.
