Tommy Richman

Virginia-born vocalist Tommy Richman blew into the public eye with the bouncy “Million Dollar Baby,” an explosive 2024 single that debuted at number two on the U.S. chart. His dexterous vocals, genre-bending efforts, and layered melodies built a signature sound which saw him develop a lane of his own through the early 2020s, before viral pre-release snippets of “Million Dollar Baby” saw the vocalist become an overnight star. Growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, Tommy Richman fully committed to a musical career during his college years, dropping out at 19 after early singles “Pleasantville” and “Melba” began to pick up traction. Anchored around his versatile vocal style, Richman’s early songs swerved from bedroom pop to funk-laced R&B; his uniqueness lay in his complex vocal work, with the young talent adding collage-like vocals and adlibs to his variety of voices and melodic styles. Through the early 2020s, he honed his sound through a colorful run of loose tracks, with highlights including the groovy “Uncle Pedro,” nostalgic “Star Girl,” and searching “Chrono Trigger.” In 2022, Richman struck up a strong collaborative relationship with underground rapper mynameisntjmack: the two first collaborated on the unique anxiety anthem “Bunker/Preroll” before linking up again that year for “Who U Foolin” and “Selfaware/2020.” After a move to Los Angeles, Richman issued his first full-length project, the seven-track Alligator. By mid-2023, his talents had attracted the attention of R&B vocalist Brent Faiyaz, who signed him to his ISO Supremacy imprint in mid-2023; the sparse R&B of “Last Nite” marked Richman’s first single on the label, before the pair collaborated on “Upset” from Faiyaz’ 2023 album, Larger Than Life. He closed out the year with the debut EP The Rush before issuing “Soulcrusher” and “Selfish” in early 2024. In 2024, Richman’s breakout single, “Million Dollar Baby,” transformed him from an underground favorite to an international hitmaker. Though he had built the single’s hype through extensive TikTok marketing, few could have anticipated its almost unprecedented success upon release: the bouncy, Southern hip-hop-inspired track debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and soon became touted as a “song of the summer.” ~ David Crone