Rittz

For much of the 2010s, Rittz was a steady presence on Strange Music’s roster. Born Jonathan Matthew McCollum in 1980 and originally from Waynesburg, Rittz issued the After Mornin EP in 2008 before catching wider attention with his full-length debut, The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant (2013), a record that peaked at No. 8. Strange Music remained his home through Last Call (2017), with Next to Nothing (2014) and Top of the Line (2016) both reaching No. 3, and Last Call landing at No. 43 on the Billboard 200. Those four albums completed his commitment to Tech N9ne’s label.

Fulfilling that contract gave Rittz the platform to launch his own CNT Entertainment. Put a Crown on It (2019), his first release under his own banner, reached No. 6 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart and was shaped by the rapper’s battle to free himself from drug and alcohol addiction. Rather than slowing down, he continued to issue music at a brisk clip: the White Jesus Loosies and White Jesus Loosies, Vol. 2 projects appeared in 2019, followed in 2020 by Picture Perfect and Rittzmas, and 2021 brought S.O.S. That post-Strange catalog keeps the focus squarely on Rittz’s own terms — and on his survival.