HotLeaks Exclusive: Introduction + Interview with Riley

I have featured Riley countless times here on HotLeaks, so you should already know his name, but I figured I would give you guys a formal introduction. He is a fantastic artist out of The Bronx in NY, and has been making music for over 7 years. As Riley puts it, "Growing up in The Bronx, you either freestyled or you danced". He initially started the freestyling as more of a joke than anything, creating a "diss" track with some friends aimed towards some other rappers from their neighborhood. Clearly something hooked him, because Riley began to realize that he really enjoyed making music.

Speaking of beginnings, here is the first track I ever heard from Riley, and the one that got me hooked:
Nobodys Perfect - Riley


Hit the jump for the full story...


After that point he realized that music was something that he wanted to do more seriously. He hooked up Henry Da 9th, a producer in NY, and soon after, The PLEH! Squad was formed. PLEH! consisted of Riley, Denardo (Aceteria!) and his cousin Tristan Parris. These guys came together and dropped a bunch of local mixtapes, and actually began to get a lot of attention around Westchester, NY.

Dreamer - Riley ft. Jennifer Kennington


Riley then decided to take a little break. After a 2 year pause from PLEH!, Riley started up on his solo work. He first dropped his first personal project, "Finally Say Finally", and that got him some serious buzz around the Manhattan Area. After that, he once again teamed up with Henry Da 9th, and dropped the dope EP, Collapse. The whole EP has a really sick sound. He has a track where he jumps on a mixed Coldplay sample, and another where it's a Mutemath sample. So overall, it was a gorgeous blend of Alt-Rock and Hip-Hop, that came off fantastic.

Blast Off! - Riley (off his Collapse EP)

And finally, we come to the point at which I first heard of this great artist. Riley started to gain some buzz online, so that's when I first heard of him with his track Nobody's Perfect.  After a couple more singles dropped, he released his LP Nobody's Perfect. And that brings us to today. Riley has started working on another project quite similar to his Collapse EP, a Hip-Hop / Alt-Rock hybrid entitled "Ruins EP". I can tell you that this project is going to be unreal, so be on the watch for it.

Hollywood - Riley ft. Hayley Biegel


And that right there is Riley in a nutshell. He is definitely an artist you should watch out for, and is probably one of my favorites right now, so you should get familiar. For more...
You can download all of Riley's music HERE
And if you like what you hear, definitely check him out:
on Facebook
on Twitter
or his Personal Site