Together for three years, Richgirl is currently working on their debut album, finishing up touring with Beyonce on the North American leg of her “I AM…” tour, and their new video “He Ain’t Wit Me Now (Tho)” is steadily gaining popularity with new fans who want to know what they’re all about.
Watch Richgirl's hot video for "He Ain't Wit Me Now (Tho)"
Each vocalist took a different path in becoming a member of Richgirl. Brave and Lyndriette, for instance, were 15 when they first started working with Harrison, who later invited them to join. Audra auditioned for the group after receiving an email and Seven was actually invited to become a Richgirl after Harrison listened to her music on MySpace.
Don’t be misled by their name, though. These ladies are anything but materialistic. As Audra explains, “Richgirl is a metaphor. A lot of times people put an ‘s’ on it, like it’s ‘The Rich Girls,’ but it’s singular for a reason. It’s a word that speaks to every woman, every strong woman, every confident woman, a woman who’s rich in her faith, who’s rich in her spirituality and her God-given talent. It has nothing to do with what’s in your bank account.”
Read on as Richgirl talks about working with super-producer Rich Harrison, how they keep the chemistry flowing and what they do to live against that girl-group stigma.
Rich Harrison has a pretty established career, working with a lot of R&B and pop singers. Did any of you feel intimated by his success or nervous about working with him?
Lyndriette: Actually, I was a little intimidated. I wanted to work with Rich for a very long time, so when I finally got in the studio, I was kind of nervous, but I quickly got over it. He really knows how to make you feel comfortable in the studio. Everything that I thought it would be, it actually wasn’t; it was a whole lot better.
Brave: Rich really took his time to get to know us individually and that made it easier because he was able to relate. I have to say that I wasn’t intimidated only because he really took time to learn us vocally and produce records so that each of us can showcase our talent.
Audra: I was intimidated, but I knew at the same time that I needed Rich. He could be the person to bring my career to the next level. When the situation with Rich came up, I was nervous because I knew I couldn’t mess this up.
How is the chemistry between all of you?
Brave: We’re like four sisters. It’s so much fun being in a group with these women. From day one, I felt like the chemistry was always on point.
Audra: I think we’re still constantly learning about each other because we’re still learning about ourselves. We’re just starting our business. We’re growing together, which makes us even closer.
You guys have been referred to as the new Destiny’s Child. When you hear something like that, what do you think?
Lyndriette: We’re totally and completely humbled when we are compared to Destiny’s Child or En Vogue. If it wasn’t for those groups, groups like TLC, SWV, we wouldn’t be here today as Richgirl, so we’re humbled when we hear those comparisons.
When is the debut album coming out?
Seven: We’re thinking about a fall album. We’re really excited about it. We had the chance to work with so many people, incredible people.
How was the experience recording for a major label?
Seven: It was great. We worked with so many great people. They allowed us to express ourselves individually. The whole recording process has been so amazing. We’re looking forward to it for many albums to come.
A lot of people have no faith in girl groups, or groups in general for that matter. How do you guys deal with the threat of breaking up or one person branching off solo? It happens so many times; how do you plan to keep that close-knit tie?
Audra: This is something we talk about constantly. We don’t want that to happen. We don’t let anything fester. We talk about our problems as they happen. And also, in groups a lot of times, problems happen because people aren’t able to showcase their talent as individuals, and we don’t have that problem as a four-lead girl group. We don’t see that happening, we pray about it, we talk about it, we keep our friendship tight and our faith in God tight and we have faith that it will keep us together.
What are some of your future plans as a group?
Audra: One big thing we’d like to do is become a huge touring act, stay on the road, worldwide, internationally, across the nation. We have aspirations of possibly a jewelry line or makeup. We toss things around all the time. We love fashion, so something in that.
Lyndriette: I believe that we just want to be around and do as much as we can do and make our mark on this earth.
What does Richgirl plan to bring to the music scene today?
Brave: I think that the scene is definitely missing what we’re trying to bring back. I feel like there is a void for the ‘group’ that’s missing the harmonies and live performances. Our main focus is bringing back music to inspire little girls. Like everybody says when the Spice Girls were out, there was one Girl that every little girl could relate to. We really just want to fill that void, and I do think in every way that the music scene is missing that and it’s definitely one of our goals as a group.
For more information about Richgirl, go to www.myrichgirl.com.
