Whether he’s securing beat placements with the likes of Rihanna, or kicking ass and taking names while playing Tekken on Twitch, Aleric “Rick Tha Rular” Banks isn’t your average creative. The Emmy-nominated beatmaker is a father, husband, percussionist, composer and more. Needless to say, he’s a man of many talents and titles. More importantly, Rick is also a man of integrity, being accountable for his actions by taking full ownership of what subsequently follows, the good and bad. “I take responsibility for everything in my life that happens; what I don’t want to happen, it’s my fault, and I know it’s my fault.”
Granted, this “it is what it is” frame of mind didn’t happen overnight. In fact, Rick had to endure his fair share of growing pains long before things started to fall in line. He had to shift focus, but not just for personal growth, for growth on a holistic level — spiritually, mentally and physically. But when you’re in the now, in the thick of it, it’s easy to become distracted and lose sight of what matter most; and in the case of Rick Tha Rular, he missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime, fireflies — and no, I’m not referring to the conventional soft-bodied beetles that light up the sky.
“Owl City, the rock band, I had the opportunity to work on their very first debut album and one of their main singles right now, which is ‘Fireflies’, I had it,” Rick avows in disbelief while revisiting that moment in time that catalyzed his grind going forward. But the story didn’t end there, it was just getting started.
After an in-depth conversation with the multihyphenate creative, I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with Rick’s instructive disposition. He’s big on paying it forward with experience-based knowledge, using this informative approach to lead the next wave of talent. The founder of St.Louis-based StarStrukk Productions, get to know Rick Tha Rular. Our conversation follows below.
With being a native of St.Louis, has growing up in that environment influenced your art form?
Yes, most definitely. One of the biggest people that contributed to that sound/style is The Trak Starz during their era. The people who practically produced everything for Nelly, Basement Beats, can’t forget them.
How did their grind influence you as an individual; is it the structure behind their business acumen or was it solely the group’s production dynamic?
Well, it was actually the influence from a business aspect. I say that because I met Tallboy when I was young, and when I met him, he would always embrace me; he told me word-for-word, “You gotta be more than a producer, you gotta work these relationships.” It’s all about making sure you keep things healthy; you don’t want to burn no bridges; make sure you build off of the relationships that you have; always be a man of your word; if you tell someone in the industry that you’re going to do something, do it. Don’t ever renege on your word, and that’s how you’ll continue to be successful. That stuck with me because he was running around with the L.A. Reid’s back in the day when Memphis was Memphits. That stuck with me more than anything, the initial business side of things.
Personally, what does being an Emmy-nominated producer do for your ego?
That’s an outstanding question. To be real with you, during the time that it happened, I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life, if that makes sense. So, the impact from it was not there for me like it was for other people. I was going through so much personal stuff that the impact was not the way I know now. I was lost, worried about bills, focusing on the right now; I wasn’t worried about the future. I still remain humble; I’m still the same person. It’s so much power that came with it [Emmy-nomination] during that time, but I wasn’t realizing how much power came with the moment. I never used being Emmy-nominated to my advantage. That also goes along with missing out on one of the hugest opportunities of my life as well; depending on the question you ask me, I’ll speak on that. It was so much going on during that time, I should’ve enjoyed that like I was supposed to.
Let’s talk about this in greater detail. Outside of the accolades, acknowledgement and working with Rihanna, which is crazy in itself, what do you feel like has been the hardest part about your come-up story?
Ahh man, missed opportunities. The Emmy nomination alone brought so much power. I should have planned and worked those relationships I talked about, thoroughly, the correct way, so that those things that were coming along wouldn’t have been missed. One of those things that I keep referring to is Owl City. Owl City, the rock band, I had the opportunity to work on their very first debut album and one of their main singles right now, which is ‘Fireflies’, I had it. I had the whole album in pocket. It was a huge smack in the face.
Missing out on that moment, what did that do for your work ethic?
Man, I don’t care what’s going on in your personal life, never use the right now to miss the opportunity to change your future. Entertainers worry about the right now so much that we miss the biggest opportunity that we’re complaining about. We want these opportunities, we want things to change on a daily basis or different things that you feel will change you as a person; if this or that happens etc., but it’ll be right there in front of you; we be so worried about the right now or the past that we don’t focus on what’s in front of us. Ever since then, I will never do that again. The world can be at a disaster, if you give me the opportunity to work with Owl City again I’m going to do whatever they want me to do, you feel me.
How do you find the balance between a personal life and your professional career?
It took me a long time to balance everything, but how I manage to do that now is by staying positive all of the time. I’m a father, husband, manager, producer, engineer, business partner, I’m all these different things; I do it by staying positive, I have no room for negativity. Positivity keeps me going. I protect my energy at all cost and stay solid to what I’m doing. If I have a task to complete I’m going to complete it. I’m a man of my word. Being a positive person, radiating positive energy; I wanna hear about other people doing better than me, that motivate me to keep going. Don’t get me wrong, things happen, but most of the conversation I wanna hear about elevation, what’s going to make you better, what’s going to make your day-to-day life better. As long as it’s positive, that keeps me happy every step of the way. I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. Now more than ever.
Why is that, why now?
I’m happy because I’m faithful to myself. What I mean by that is to define faithful; I don’t cheat on myself, I don’t lie to myself, I’m honest with myself, I’m real with myself. I can look myself in the mirror and say self, are you doing what you’re supposed to do, yes. Being faithful to myself keeps me grounded, makes me a better man, makes me a better husband, makes a better father, a better producer; because I’m not lying to myself. I take responsibility for everything in my life that happens; what I don’t want to happen, it’s my fault, and I know it’s my fault. Learning two years ago actually, how to be faithful to myself — by me learning that disciplinary action about myself and taking accountability for my own actions, that made me a happier person, because after that — I have not lost, I’ve been elevating and continuously growing. Better things are happening because I’m true to myself, I do the things that I said I’m going to do and I do what I’m supposed to do, nothing extra — and that’s what keeps me happy.
I can imagine something else that brings you joy is winning in Tekken online via Twitch. With you being a professional gamer, how does that competitive drive translate into your art form?
To be honest, at first I didn’t think it did. In my brain, it was two different paths, two different careers. I didn’t see the future, so I didn’t do everything that I was supposed to. Now, I’m able to bring both together because of how the future is going with online gaming and how Twitch, you can;t play licensed music anymore, which is a huge opportunity for a person like myself to start doing subscriptions. Every stream, I play my own tracks and people can’t believe it. Three hours worth of music just playing in the background. Gaming used to be my first passion and music was my second when I was younger. As I got older, it changed, music came first and then gaming. I had to figure out a way to bring these two things together. Once I started getting into the pro-gaming circuit and I started traveling, I was able to network and shake the hands of the actual creators. I’ve met Ed Boon, the creator of Mortal Kombat. I’ve met the creator of Tekken and sat down to have a conversation with him; their marketing team, everything. How can I bring my music world into the gaming world, and it was simple. Create some music for us. You’re that good, let’s see what you got. Now gaming and music is starting to slowly come together now. Since the quarantine, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, now you have to license the music. With a person like me, that’s an unlimited bag because I created music, period. With my credentials and resume — I’ve never used my music accolades to gain connections in the gaming world, I used my talent to do that — but once that portfolio opens, the opportunities create themselves. Now, me trying to figure it out on my own, it’s naturally happening.
