“Ballin’” by Mustard & Roddy Ricch
Roddy Ricch, a rapper from the prominent hip-hop city of Compton, was really hot circa the late 2010s, hitting his peak with his 2020 mega-hit “The Box“. Prior to that his successes included “Ballin’”, a track which Interscope, 10 Summers and UMG released on 28 June 2019.
For example, this song topped Billboard’s US Rhythmic chart and proceeded to be certified sextuple-platinum by the RIAA as of 2021. And earlier, in 2020, it also went on to represent the first time either Roddy or Mustard had been nominated for a Grammy Award (for Best Rap/Sung Performance, which ultimately went to DJ Khaled’s “Higher“).
Mustard – who, as with Roddy Ricch, hails from Los Angeles – has been in the game slightly longer and managed to score another multi-platinum hit, “Pure Water” with Migos, earlier in 2019.
And to note “Ballin’” was his first collaboration with Ricch, and they proceeded to team up on another track, 2020’s “High Fashion”, which also managed to go multi-platinum. Furthermore, “Ballin’” went on to be featured on his album titled “Perfect Ten” (from which the cover art to this song was derived).
Besides Mustard and Roddy, amongst the writers of this song is Donell Jones. Jones is actually a 1990s R&B singer, and the reason he is acknowledged is as a result of authoring 702’s “Get It Together” (1997), which is sampled into “Ballin’”.
The other credited co-writers of the latter are Justus West, GyltTryp and the late Nipsey Hussle. And it is likewise it was West, GyltTryp and Mustard who produced this track.
The Lyrics of “Ballin’”
So what we are met with here is a song in which Roddy Ricch serves as the vocalist throughout. And as for the title, it is a colloquial street term pointing to the notion, most simply put, of being rich and living a luxurious life.
So with that noted, this piece can be categorized as what we commonly refer to as a come-up song, which can be considered a standard in the hip-hop community. These tracks are premised on the vocalist comparing his earlier days of financial struggle to the here and now, being a baller.
So ballin’ would entail for instance enjoying a multitude of f*-k buddies, being dressed in the latest, most-expensive fashions and pushing pricey whips. And all of those basics are covered in this song.
Meanwhile, as is also the norm with these successful street-based rappers, Ricch proceeds to enlighten the audience to the notion that before becoming a prosperous musician he did what he had to do, i.e. engaged in a life of crime, in order to survive. And that entailed him ‘serving crack on the corner’, which is in fact a very-dangerous profession in the ‘hood.
So relatedly, Roddy also comes off as if he is strongly gang affiliated and to this day more or less living that life, being a proud member of the infamous Crips.
Besides such musings, there are also other interesting lines here and there. For instance, the rapper harps back to the days when certain homeys ‘turned their backs on him’ when he was down and out. But now it’s like that famous adage, success is the best revenge.
And it is such past experiences which now encourage and empower Roddy – and, by extension, DJ Mustard – to proudly flaunt their wealth and enviable lifestyles in front of others.
