Riff Raff

Horst Christian Simco (born January 29, 1982), better known by his stage name Riff Raff (often stylized as RiFF RAFF), is an American rapper from Katy, Texas.

Simco was born on January 29, 1982, in Houston, Texas, to Anita Isaacs, a maid, and Ronald Simco, a Vietnam War veteran with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, who worked various jobs, including as a police officer and Walmart manager.

His mother grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, descending from a family of German Jews and Lithuanian Jews that included several survivors and victims of the Holocaust.

Riff Raff was the second of four siblings.

He and his family lived in Copperfield, a suburb 25 miles northwest of Houston.

Growing up he was obsessed with basketball, playing frequently with other children in his neighborhood.

The Simcos had moved to nearby Stone Creek.

He attended Langham Creek High School, where he was shooting guard on his school's basketball team, before dropping out in his senior year.

Shortly thereafter he obtained his GED.

After his parents divorced, his father was diagnosed with tonsil cancer and the family moved to Duluth, Minnesota, to get his father out of the heat into a cooler environment.

For a time, Riff Raff and his siblings were shuttled back and forth between Duluth and Houston, where their mother remained.

In 2001, he enrolled at Hibbing Community College in Hibbing, Minnesota, where he played on the basketball team for a month and majored in liberal arts.

Feeling out of place, he dropped out in 2003 and moved back to Houston, where he painted cars in the in-vogue "candy-colored" style and gradually built his new identity.

He eventually relocated to Los Angeles and began to take his rapping career seriously.

Riff Raff started rapping in 2005, making homemade CDs of his rapping over other artists' beats, and passing them out at various malls in the Greater Houston Area including Katy Mills Mall.

He credited his early influences being Texas veteran rappers Devin the Dude and Paul Wall.

Riff Raff took advantage of social media on Myspace, YouTube and WorldStarHipHop in late 2008, releasing songs, freestyle-videos, and sketch clips, which showcased his talent as slapstick and performance art.

He did this with the help of his first talent manager, DB da Boss, whose studio provided recording and video services.

DB spoke with LA Weekly about the rapper, saying "He was very driven, very ambitious. You couldn't deny his work ethic", going on to say, "Underneath that shell is a very intelligent man."

He looked up to Northside Houston rappers from label Swishahouse, who were blowing up around that time, including Paul Wall, Chamillionaire and Slim Thug.

He began doing his hair up in braids popular among "Northsiders" like Slim Thug and shopping for bling at TV Jewelry, a store co-owned by Paul Wall and charismatic Vietnamese immigrant "TV" Johnny Dang, from whom Riff Raff also purchased gold grills.

Like many other artists from Houston, Riff Raff also spent much of his time selling CDs at colleges and malls, occasionally alongside other local talent such at Fat Tony and Freestyle Bully.

In an effort to get on television he went on many auditions, including for a part in a peanut butter commercial intended for a teenager.

He and his friend also tried out for P. Diddy's Making the Band, to no avail.

He was so determined to become famous that he flew to Atlanta to try out for MTV's reality show From G's to Gents.

When he learned that he had made the cast for the program's second season, before taping had even begun, he immediately got a giant MTV logo tattooed on his neck and adjusted his stage name to "MTV Riff Raff".

Though he was eliminated from the series on the second episode, he left an impression on viewers through his extravagant way of dressing and funny ad-libs.

Upon the season's debut in early 2009, appearance on the show would garner an immediate reaction to him, which catapulted his career.

The same year actor, comedian and rapper Simon Rex noticed Riff Raff after being shown to him by notable producer The Alchemist.

Rex contacted Riff Raff after watching one of his freestyle videos in which he revealed his phone number, and soon enough the two became friends and began recording as Riff Raff and Dirt Nasty.

The pair later formed a rap group Three Loco along with comedian Andy Milonakis, increasing Riff Raff's popularity by tapping into the two celebrities' fan bases.

He was originally managed by Swishahouse co-founder OG Ron C in 2011.

The joint deal fell apart in the wake of legal disputes with the publication of the 2012 film Spring Breakers.

After initially signing with rapper Soulja Boy's record label Stacks on Deck Entertainment, Simco signed with producer Diplo's Mad Decent record label to release his debut album, Neon Icon (2014).

His debut studio album, met with mixed critical and commercial response, was followed up with Peach Panther (2016), which was released through Warner Records.

Prior to its release, Simco announced a joint partnership with Stampede Management and BMG, signing a four-million-dollar artist venture agreement for his own label and production company.

Simco was formerly a member of the hip hop group Three Loco, along with Andy Milonakis and Dirt Nasty, who reunited on his Balloween 2016 Halloween mixtape performing "Bitches in my Driveway".

The trio premiered a Christmas parody song, "Ho-Ho-Loco", in the TBS ''Surprise!

Instant Xmas Carol'' special.

In February 2018, Riff Raff announced on his Instagram that he signed to singer Blackbear's Beartrap Sound for a reported US$500,000 along with a Beartrap Sound pendant and chain.