Originally from Houston, Riff Raff’s Internet fame brought him straight to Hollywood — and now Columbia.
After releasing his debut album “Neon Icon,” Riff Raff is making his way to venues across the country as part of his Neon Icon Tour, including Music Farm in the Vista on Thursday. The Columbia show on Jan. 22 will feature the opener Dylan Deekay, a South Carolina-based EDM DJ and producer.
If you don’t know who Riff Raff is, you’ve clearly been avoiding social media. Under the alias JODY HiGHROLLER on Twitter and RiFF RAFF on Vine, each of his accounts has accumulated around one million followers.
When he’s not promoting his music, Riff Raff is usually posting pictures of his puppy Jody Husky (featured on the cover of “Neon Icon,”) tweeting off-the-wall updates, recording vines in his Porsche and other weird things. Most recently, he started training with Hulk Hogan to be a WWE wrestler and giving his followers updates.
Naturally, the Internet adores him.
But it hasn’t always been that way. Even though he’s been making music since 2009, Raff stayed under the radar until his fan base skyrocketed during the last two years. He got a significant amount of attention after James Franco’s character in “Spring Breakers” was a little too close to Raff’s signature tattooed, cornrowed persona.
On “Neon Icon” Raff also caught a lot of attention with featured rappers such as Childish Gambino and Mac Miller. Even though “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdins” is his most popular track, the album as a whole got plenty of attention and praise. “Neon Icon” stretches across a surprisingly broad spectrum — it’s a rap album but it also features rock-esque songs like “Kokayne” along with gentle electronic tunes like “VIP Pass To My Heart.”
Riff Raff has definitely created a memorable image for himself, and that’s helping sell out his shows, including his concert Jan. 23 at Music Farm in Charleston.
With doors at 9 p.m., Thursday’s 16-and-up concert tickets start at $20 for general admission and up to $250 for “The Neon Experience,” which includes a meet, greet and photo op with Raff himself and Jody Husky and more.
Riff Raff is definitely the most bizarre hip-hop artist of our time, so we can only hope the show lives up to the image he’s created.