South Atlanta rapper Rixxky Bands is poised to emerge as one of the definitive MCs of the post-millennial music era with the release of his latest mixtape Stadium Status and new single “Ben Wallace.”
“My music is phonky. That’s the best way to describe it,” he says, “because of the feeling that it gives when you listen to it. The music puts you in a particular kind of mood. It’s hard; it’s melodic; it’s my emotions.”
Without question, Bands is passionate about his music. However, growing up as a kid, his first love was football. Born Vincent Ricardo Dukes in the North Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain, he had been busting up boys on the gridiron since he was seven years old. From the Fairburn Flames to the Old National Knights to North Clayton Eagles, the eager young man has been strapping on shoulder pads for as long as he could remember.
When he was eight, the family packed up and moved to the South side, some 30 minutes away. His new home—surrounded by big, beautiful homes with two-car garages and basements, newly renovated schools and seemingly innocent neighborhoods—was only a facade for the evils that lurked in the shadows.
“South Fulton breeds monsters,” Rixxky contends. “It’s working class people with nice houses, but everybody got side hustles. Parents might be drug dealers or own a car wash. Everybody is gangbanging. The kids are getting into shoot outs. They are the wildest because everybody is trying to make a name for themselves. Everybody is trying to be a millionaire now.”
Because of the violent atmosphere, young Vincent’s parents sent him to North Springs High School some 40 minutes away in the ritzy Sandy Springs suburbs. Another way that his parents attempted to keep their son out of trouble was to keep him involved in sports. All through school, he played football and baseball. But even with his parents’ efforts, those immortal elements were right outside his front door.
“Sports took me away from a lot of stuff but it was always around me,” he admits. “When I came home from school, I’m hearing about all of the gangbanging going on in my neighborhood school.”
Another way that he kept his nose clean was honing his skills on the microphone. At 11, he began toying with making his own music with best friend AK. Over the years, they would spit rhymes over popular industry beats until one day, Rixxky realized that his music was too good to just keep to themselves. So at 14, he released his first freestyle session online. The fans went crazy and demanded more. Every song he dropped, listeners became more and more entranced.
“My music is actually block music,” he describes. “It has so many influences because that’s the music the kids like right now. My music is dope, but my best stuff is yet to come.”
