March 16, 2025 • 30 mins
¡Qué Pasa Boston! te trae otra historia impactante de talento, perseverancia e innovación musical!
Hoy conocemos a Richy Peña, el productor musical dominicano-estadounidense que pasó de los barrios de Boston a ganar un Grammy y transformar la industria de la música latina. Desde sus inicios en el Boys & Girls Club hasta trabajar con gigantes como Don Omar, Chino & Nacho y Tony Dize, Richy nos cuenta cómo superó obstáculos como la falta de documentación y convirtió su pasión en una carrera de éxito.
En este episodio exclusivo, nuestra presentadora Gabriela Salas profundiza en su historia, explorando la evolución de la música, la industria digital y el impacto de la inteligencia artificial en la producción musical. Además, Richy comparte su visión sobre el futuro de la industria, la importancia de la comunidad y su nuevo proyecto en la agricultura y la tecnología sostenible. ¡No te pierdas esta conversación llena de inspiración, innovación y el verdadero sonido de Boston!
QuePasaBoston #RichyPeña #MúsicaLatina #GrammyWinner #BostonLatinos #InnovaciónMusical #LiderazgoLatino #BostonMusic #HistoriaDeÉxito
Qué Pasa Boston! brings you another powerful story of talent, perseverance, and musical innovation! Meet Richie Peña, the Dominican-American music producer who went from Boston’s neighborhoods to winning a Grammy and reshaping the Latin music industry. From his early days at the Boys & Girls Club to working with legends like Don Omar, Chino & Nacho, and Tony Dize, Richy shares how he overcame the challenges of being undocumented and turned his passion into a thriving career.
In this exclusive episode, host Gabriela Salas delves into his journey, exploring the evolution of music, the digital industry, and how artificial intelligence is transforming music production. Richy also shares his vision for the future of the industry, the importance of community, and his new venture into sustainable agriculture and technology. Don’t miss this conversation filled with inspiration, innovation, and the true sound of Boston! #QuePasaBoston
#RichyPeña #LatinMusic #GrammyWinner #BostonLatinos #MusicInnovation #LatinoLeadership #BostonMusic #SuccessStory
Hoy conocemos a Richy Peña, el productor musical dominicano-estadounidense que pasó de los barrios de Boston a ganar un Grammy y transformar la industria de la música latina. Desde sus inicios en el Boys & Girls Club hasta trabajar con gigantes como Don Omar, Chino & Nacho y Tony Dize, Richy nos cuenta cómo superó obstáculos como la falta de documentación y convirtió su pasión en una carrera de éxito.
En este episodio exclusivo, nuestra presentadora Gabriela Salas profundiza en su historia, explorando la evolución de la música, la industria digital y el impacto de la inteligencia artificial en la producción musical. Además, Richy comparte su visión sobre el futuro de la industria, la importancia de la comunidad y su nuevo proyecto en la agricultura y la tecnología sostenible. ¡No te pierdas esta conversación llena de inspiración, innovación y el verdadero sonido de Boston!
QuePasaBoston #RichyPeña #MúsicaLatina #GrammyWinner #BostonLatinos #InnovaciónMusical #LiderazgoLatino #BostonMusic #HistoriaDeÉxito
Qué Pasa Boston! brings you another powerful story of talent, perseverance, and musical innovation! Meet Richie Peña, the Dominican-American music producer who went from Boston’s neighborhoods to winning a Grammy and reshaping the Latin music industry. From his early days at the Boys & Girls Club to working with legends like Don Omar, Chino & Nacho, and Tony Dize, Richy shares how he overcame the challenges of being undocumented and turned his passion into a thriving career.
In this exclusive episode, host Gabriela Salas delves into his journey, exploring the evolution of music, the digital industry, and how artificial intelligence is transforming music production. Richy also shares his vision for the future of the industry, the importance of community, and his new venture into sustainable agriculture and technology. Don’t miss this conversation filled with inspiration, innovation, and the true sound of Boston! #QuePasaBoston
#RichyPeña #LatinMusic #GrammyWinner #BostonLatinos #MusicInnovation #LatinoLeadership #BostonMusic #SuccessStory
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But when I was the as Bollstone, I am so excited.
I cannot even tell you. I say that every morning.
Every morning I say, I'm very excited about the kids
that I'm having today. But today is special. People don't
(00:21):
even imagine that I am actually talking besides being a
great friend of mine and an amazing dad, an amazing husband,
as super wonderful, fantastic producer, award winning and I'm not
talking about a regular award. I'm talking about a Grammy
Award winning producer. He is here to tell me everything
(00:46):
about himself, what he's working on, and the cool projects
that he's planning.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome, Richipenya, thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm really excited to be here. Come on, it makes
a noise. We gotta get live. We gotta get live,
we gotta get alive. No, no, thank you for having me.
I'm really excited to be here, you know. So I'm
looking forward to this conversation. We've known each other for
so long, and I feel like we might actually, you know,
talk about some of the things that we always kind
(01:16):
of like want to hang out and talk about, but
we don't always get to, you know. So I'm excited
to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's it's all about you, Richie today. So who's Richie Penya?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
All right, that's a that's a lot question, that's an
easy one. I know who I am. I am Richie Penya.
I am from the Dominican Republic. I came to Boston
when I was eight years old. We settled in Roxbury,
We lived in Charlestown, we lived in JP, we lived
in russ and Live. We moved all over the place
(01:48):
and I finally went to I went to the Tobn
Elementary School here in Mission Hill. I went to the
Edwards in Charlestown from middle school, and I went to
Madison High in Roxbury for high school. So I am
a product of Boston. I grew up in a time
where Boston was very much the feeling and I think
(02:11):
that it's still there is that we can do anything.
This is why we call the City of Champions.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I love that and what creates the expectation of like
the City of Champions. That's a heavy, you know title,
like because you want to be the best and you
have become the best at what you do. But before
you get to that, you go to New York. I
remember that you started here in Boston. You have your family,
(02:37):
You're one of how many siblings?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I have three brothers, three brothers.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I'm the oldest, and actually I can't even say that
because like, over the years I've been meeting new brothers
and sisters because apparently my dad you know, you know,
having fun, I guess, but I have met actually, in
the last couple of years, I've met I met my
older brother I did not know. Shout out to Abraham Abrang.
(03:05):
I met other brothers that you know, I had not in,
sisters that I had not met or hung out with.
So it's been every few years there's a new cousin
or brother the pops up. But I think right now
they're all covered. I think we've we've got them all down.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
That's perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
And anybody in the music industry just you no.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Out of my family, I know my brother Jason, he's
been very musically incline. So I was like doing music
but old like I kind of took it, you know,
to the next level by going to New York and
really pursuing that as a career.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
How did that happen? How did you get to New York?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It was the closest city to me. You know, I
grew up in so I couldn't travel very far. Like
when I was brought to the US, I was a child,
you know, I was eight years old. So I grew
up you know, kind of like unable to travel because
I was undocumented. And after you know, being here for
(04:05):
so long getting into music, I couldn't get a job.
You know, I couldn't work legally. I remember going to
a job interview when I was in high school. They
were doing this program and you know, it was for
a web design company, and I went there to interview
and the interview went great. I got the job and
then they're like, hey, just come in tomorrow, bring your social,
(04:25):
bring your stuff. So I went home and I was like, money,
where's my social? I needed this, I need that, And
she's like, oh, you don't have a social. And that's
how I found out that.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I was on documented How did you feel?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was weird because you know, that meant that I
couldn't go to college because at the time, and I
still it's still the case. You know, if you were
on documentary or you were from out of the country,
you had to pay like two or three times in
tuition for any of the classes. That's how I was
going to be able to do it. So I wasn't
able to afford that, so I had to work. But
(04:56):
I couldn't work, so you know, I was already doing poets.
I started doing music by doing poetry at the Boys
and Girls Club in Charlestown. It was like that.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Bad point in the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I've met so many beautiful talented people that come from
that program, and as a matter of fact, we're going
to have them over very soon. They're going to do
a little tour with us because we want to inspire them.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But it's so cool that you come from there too.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, I think the Boys and Girls Club really did
a lot to help the local community in Charlestown. Like
I remember, they took all of us, like all the
kids basically from the projects, from the projects and they
brought us out to different places that you gave us
different experiences, but they also just created a nice safe
place for all of us to kind of hang out
and explore different ideas. You know. We would go there
(05:43):
and I would join the Aviation Club, so I learned a.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Little bit about rocket.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Propulsion there and we would play pool. There was a
swimming pool. We also go in the pool basketball And
it was.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Your interest for innovation starts back then, right, And I've.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Always been so curious about just knowing how things work.
So I'm the tope of kid that whenever he got
a remote control car, I would break it apart to
see what was making it work. So I broke a
lot of toys like that. I imagine your mom, like, look,
Anti Bahama moves together as a quarto.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You know, that's so funny.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I was, and I can picture it. I can.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I can totally picture it. So that brings you to
New York because you cannot.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
It was a place for you to.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Go and still be able to follow my dream. So
at the time, you know, I was around maybe fourteen fifteen,
sixteen years old. Uh you know, I started a group
locally in the mill and Mill h l O F
A O. It's a group. Say he's a super burp
(07:00):
like it was super popular. I remember doing like you know,
we used to do parties and we would have like
six seven hundred kids show up to the I'm at
the Carver Lodge the street from the field. There was
a venue that we were able to go in and
do events. And it was just us. There was nobody else,
and we had the four or five hundred kids, six
(07:21):
hundred kids in there like listening to us, performed the
songs that we had giving them in CDs, and you know,
I have a lot of videos of that and.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Cool memories back then.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
See, these people don't because because nowadays it's all in
your phone, right, the iHeart app and Spotify and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Everything's on your phone. You have the whole world in
your hands basically.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And what gets you close to the big name Dona matter.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Oh so it's so weird because, like you know, back
in the day, social media wasn't really a thing and
there were very few social media spots like Facebook was.
Actually I used to get sort annoy annoyed because he
needed to have like an email from a college to
sign up. At first, I was like, man, that's bs.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That's true. I remember that.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, everybody needed to have that email. I didn't go
to college for that, so I didn't have that email.
So I was never able to join until it was
later that they opened it up to.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Everybody to well everyone.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But before that, there was another social platform called MySpace.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Now, what people don't remember is that MySpace used to
actually be a tool for musicians, managers and labels.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yes, yes, yes, I remember that of MySpace.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
It was for you to join and share your music,
so you had all the bands. You used to put
your top five artists or top five.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Friends, way before SoundCloud and all these things came out right,
and I used it as such.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I used it as a tool. So I would search like,
for example, Sony and anyone who was registered on MySpace,
who worked at Sony with pop up, anyone who was registered,
and I would just search like producer, manager, artists, you know.
And I ended up touching base with a guy. His
name is Buddha, not the same Buddha that's from Lawrence.
(09:02):
Another guy a friend of mine, and he lived in Queens.
He was super cool. Uh he I was like, Hey,
he worked at a company called, I want to say
it was UBO EVERYN box office that was at the
time kind of like a uh you know. They were
like an independent but like big Latin label that was
trying to kind of get into the Latin scene back
(09:24):
in the day. So they were signing different artists and
they were releasing music. I think they're also behind and
then you know, I could be wrong, but I think
that had something to do with that whole movement. So
I met this guy he you know, he introduces me
to other people. I ended up moving to Queens and
(09:46):
I ended up moving to Queens because I ended up
meeting another sister at a time who was my older sister, Vanessa. Uh.
She lives in Queens and I'm like, hey, listen, like
you know, I've been going to New York this whole time.
I used to come with my friends and try to
like knock on people's doors. I remember I used to
bother Henry him, can you sign us? What's going on?
(10:09):
We got music? And years later. It's funny because I
actually ended up working in Henri's studio with Donamar and
that's where I mentioned in Nacho and all that stuff.
So it's a really small world of how all that connected. So,
you know, buddhas who presented me to somebody else, and
I ended up meeting this guy egg gun tas shout
(10:29):
out to egg Gunn, who was managing Nelly. So Nell
was working at the time in New Jersey and Casanova
studio and you know, the interviewed with me like yoh,
so what can you do? I was like, bro, I
can engineer, I had videos, I write songs.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
He didn't go to school for that?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Ult double eg guy, what you guys need?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Like you know what I mean? You didn't go to
school for that?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
How did you learn to do all these you know,
technical stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
By spending countless hours in front of my computer trying
to figure how things work.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I love that about you, Ritchie, because there's nothing you
cannot do. Like that initiative that you've always had is
just impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's like so inspiring. And I think that people that are.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Listening to us right now are like, I cannot believe
that a kid that comes from the dr has no papers,
has no Social Security number.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
The doors are closed.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It would have been very easy for you to say
like I can't, right, and you still found a way
to get around it and not only learn new things,
but make it. Man, because you made it and you're
making it still. That is so huge. Is an amazing,
amazing story. So I remember Tony.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Dice, Yes, Tony dies.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
So that was a cool thing because he was like
a little bit like big right, he was starting to
get there, and then you did a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Again we're like popping and so I met only while
working in New York with Donald mar. So long story
short presents me to Donald mar I record him. The
first session he starts to record, I corrected him and
then I'm like, oh my god, I'm correcting Donamar, And
he came out of the move and said, Bro, I
(12:17):
really appreciate that. You know, here's my number. Let's like
stay in charge. We worked on a few other sessions
and at the time, Nellie had to wanted to move
to Miami and I wasn't gonna be able to move
to Miami because of my situation. So I said, Don't, like,
I'm not going to move to Miami. I'm gonna have
to go back to Boston. And Don was like, yo,
bro moving with me. And I lived with Don't for like,
(12:39):
no way two and a half years, bro, which was
crazy and it was one of the coolest experiences of
my life. Shout out to the King. Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And we want to thank them too, because at that
time we got to go visit you Yoie and I
and we went to the first Aventura concert ever that
I was so ex so thank you for taking Richie
to New York. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
It was that was That was a really cool time
of my life. And with Tony Dice when he came
to Boston, we did a lot of great music. We
did so many songs, most of them didn't come out.
I had like two albums come out on his original songs.
This is his original album called But at the time,
Tony had a lot of like you know, label issues,
(13:31):
you know, so a lot of the things didn't come
out or and and other things. The label that he
was with kind of stole the songs no way that
we had done together.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And at the same time, you know, that's a good point,
but I los Cestaci and no Mosica. What are the
things that they have to watch for or what is it now?
Like nowadays it must be so difficult to also own
your own stuff, right especially with AI and everything that
is changing.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
So I think that one of the biggest issues right now, honestly,
is that people take themselves out of the equation before
they are in the game. And what I mean by that,
there's opportunities that come knocking. You know, I can call
someone and say, hey, bro, I need you to like,
you know, I got this opportunity. I'm going to send
you some my competiti so that you can put something together.
(14:21):
Let me see what you've got. Now, I expect somebody
to say, hey, I got you, let me see what
you got. Let's make it. Let's make it happen, because
I don't work with money being the main reason of
why I'm doing what you're doing. I love this stuff,
you know. I love doing music. And when I work
with somebody, they either have the same love that I
(14:43):
have or they don't. Now that people that have the
same love that I have just create great music and
they work together and we at the end of the day,
we figure out what we're going to the business side
of things now needs to be done. But when I
offer you an opportunity and the first question that comes
out of your mouth is like, what's going to be
my percentage? What am I going to get paid? And
you haven't even done anything for the project. I can't
(15:04):
tell you how much I'm gonna pay you or what
percentage you're gonna get. And I don't even know if
I'm gonna take what you do. You know what I mean.
But that's to me, that's like a turn off. I
think that you know, in life, there's two ways that
you can be. You can kind of like you know,
and there's different ways of being in life, you know,
so don't take this as like the absolute way that
(15:24):
you have to be. I'm the type of person that
I like to do as much as possible in the
little time that I have. We have one life. I
can be like I said and call you to be
happy when doing what you're doing. There's people that you know,
get comfortable and they go slowly, and that's okay too,
(15:45):
you know, but you see that's at.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
To make it happen.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I need to move and I need I need to
get things done.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And you know, you're saying something very important, especially because
there's a couple of times you mentioned it. One is
you're very proud for from being a BO and being
also part of like the projects and how you grew
up and you're a.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Boston, Boston product.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And then you're talking about the purpose, right, your purpose
for producing, creating and people's awareness of it of like
that social responsibility and whatever else is happening that is
beyond the material stuff and the money. I remember you
creating the Boston Music Conference back then because you cared
about the music industry. It was not because you wanted
(16:30):
to be the biggest conference and bring all these artists.
It was because you wanted people to keep learning because
here in Boston there was nothing about music right.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Well, when I was before, you know, I mentioned that
I have been going to New York knocking on doors.
One of the things that we were also doing was
like going to different conferences and just looking for opportunities,
looking to network with other people that were in the
industry or get some industry inside from these people. And
it worked for me. This is, you know, one of
the ways that I met different people from different labels
(16:59):
and I was to connect. But that wasn't happening in Boston.
So in two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight,
we threw around the idea of doing the Boston Music Conference.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Which, by the way, Carol g mentions in a video
and she actually came to the Boston Music Conference before
she became that big star she's.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Now, which I didn't know, which I did not know
that the same And that's like, you know, it just
shows you, like you know, when you do things with love,
like the BMC was something that we put together. It
was my wife and I Jody Mendoza shout out to
Jody my.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Baby, Yeah, I love her.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
But like you know, it was something that was meant
to really help and educate and empower the local community
and people who not just music producers or artists, but
also anyone who wanted to get into the music industry
and do marketing, do management and things that were not
necessarily you know, in the forefront of being the artist
of the producer or you know, more like the scene.
Because the music industry there's so many different careers paths
(18:03):
that you can choose, you know, so it's a matter
of like really educating and really educating everyone to know
what was available to them.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So the Boston Music Conference comes from Boston, Richie Penya
comes from Boston, but there's something that comes from Boston
that is very dear to your heart me Nina Bonita.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yes, so a lot of people don't know this, but
was born in Boston for those that don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And I imagine, you know, because that song is still
so relevant that Billboard even has an article about it.
But Minina mea right, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
You know what's crazy. We didn't think that that song
was gonna be such a hit. I liked the song
when we first did it. I thought it was great,
but like you know, we did we had a party
and it was on a cruise and I played the
song bro and then everybody just like and I was like,
oh my god, this song tank two. Three months later,
(19:03):
there were people outside of my apartment in downtown singing
the song to me because they come downstairs and hang out,
like it was written.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
That's so cool, but bring me back. How did you
get Chini Natur in Boston?
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Chini Natur? I met them in New York while working
with Donald Mar. We had done a song together Beam
then that was the first song that Chine Natural did
with Donald Mar. And it's like, you know, this is
when came out.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
More electric, more you know, and.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
In that song as well, so like it was like
is it gonna go very digital or is it gonna
go very tropical? It was still kind of like in between.
Dorado hadn't come out, and hadn't come out, none of
these big records that have later changed the kind of
like the sound pop five, right, you know. The Billboard
(20:01):
article came out in December of twenty twenty three, and
it named Minnevo Nita as the song number thirty in
a list of fifty songs that were like the top
fifty songs to come out from twenty twenty to twenty
twenty four, and Mina was listened as number thirty like
Mineoita ended up really changing the sound and the whole
(20:26):
music industry.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I mean, that's what got you your Grammy.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
It got us the Grammy. It helped us and boosted
our careers, and it gave us.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
More of.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
You know, the only thing that you know what I mean,
Like I feel like, you know, I grew up in
a very diverse upbringing. My mom would listen to Juangabriel
Ana Gabriel and I would be like, you know, listening
to that music in the car, but then when I
put on my headphones, I would be listening to like
Biggie and Tupac and other people that were also relevant
(20:58):
at the time. So it was really, you know, it
was it's a big mix of all of these different
influences that were in my life into one little thing
if you listen to has a lot of like do
wop from the fifties, because I love that like stand
by Me sort of sound. You know. It was funny
because Prince Royce ended up coming out with stand by
(21:18):
Me kind of like around the same time. Yes, yes,
and we actually sat together. He was sat next to
me at the Grammys when we went right away.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We went together.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yes, yeah, I was there is all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I was so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Party, remember that. Yes, But Richie, I have so many questions.
I have so much to ask. We have just a
very little time. And one of the things that are
important to me for every guest that comes in here,
and because the audience there is so important to me
as well, what can we talk? What can we say
(21:54):
about your legacy? Because you have three children now, your
family is amazing, You're so deadicate. You're also into farming
and these other things that would never in a million
years imagine that reach opinion would be involved. But what
would you tell your kids now? What are you doing
for them? What would you like them to feel when
they hear the name?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, your father is rich Openia.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, I want my kids to grow up to
be strong men, but I also want them to be empathetic.
I want them to, you know, be hard workers. And
I'm leading them by example because we work hard and
we work long, long hours. You know, if I had
(22:41):
to leave a legacy for my kids, I would hope
to leave the world a better place and give them
the tools that they need to leave at a better
place and continue to do that because I feel like
we're lacking leadership right now.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
That's so true.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know, we're lacking leadership for young women, for young men.
You know, I grew up without a dad, so I
know all the ways of how I can be a
bad dad, you know, because that was my experience growing
up without a dad. So it's a lot easier to
be a good dad when you know what being a
(23:16):
bad dad is like. You know, I hope that you
know the things that we're doing now they see the
importance in what we're doing. You know, you mentioned that
we're doing farming. I think it's important to take care
of our of our our country, our earth, our planet.
You know, I feel that we've kind of lost touch
(23:42):
with you know, nature, We've lost touch with the things
that are really important. Family, spending time together and having
those little moments that you know can mean you know,
maybe nothing to you, but mean the world to them.
You know, that's a that's a deep question.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Having that's a beautiful answery and I am so proud
of you. But I also have to give it up
to Jody too, because she's been standing by your side.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
How many years has it been now.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
She's we've been together for.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Almost twenty years.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
See we met in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Almost twenty years A long time. I know it is
a long time, but I can tell you like when
you find your partner, they just can't add to your
life and you can just grow and become who you
really are meant to be, because there are some other
times that people hold you back, right, and you both
have done such a tremendous job raising those kids, being
(24:44):
part of the community.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Ritchie, I am so eager to see what is next.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Is there anything you want to share about your future
product project?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So you know, I have been kind of taking a
break from music or I have been taking a break
from music and during that time, and what I worked
on was at the farm. We bought a farm that
we are bringing into the new age. So my UH
kind of like my task there and what I'm having
fun doing is bringing in all these new technologies. So
I'm bringing in artificial intelligence that is being run locally
(25:17):
with our own with our own computing power, connecting and
UH designing a system for the irrigation that's going to
be automated, designed by me, and the whole purpose of
that is to really I want to figure out this
whole farming situation. You know, farming is not necessarily the
most profitable business to be in, but it's also so
(25:38):
important to who we are as humans. Like we all
need good food, we all need healthy food, and food
that's not grown with pesticize or any other chemicals we're
going to like, you know, disrupt your your body. So
to me, that's like, you know, one of the one
of the funniest things that I am doing right now.
Something else though, during the same time I've been working
(26:00):
with developing applications, I think AI really changed a lot.
Oh yes, Like like I have found myself being so
much more productive and doing things that I didn't think
we're going to be possible for a single person to do.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
But you've been doing things that are impossible all along.
What do you mean, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It doesn't feel like that, trust me. It's it's I
spent a lot of time in front of my computer
just learning new things, just a visionary but like I
don't know, I just like learning things like literally this morning,
like last night. I went to sleep at eleven o'clock
and I was like reading a diagram for how to
wire Solinois water valves.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Ye speak to me in Spanish. Yeah, you know, I
have no idea.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So it's just like, you know, learning is fun, you
know right now, like for music, I'm really excited to
get back into music. I am in the process of
building on my studio. I am really doing a lot
of virtual production. I've gotten into virtual production using different software,
not using AI for that yet.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
But do you see the future of music.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I think the music industry should be broken apart and
a new music industry should be born. I think that
we should forget about what we know from the music
industry and we need to create a new one. That's
one of the things that I would love to be
able to do.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Maybe you can bring up more conferences or more TED
talks or something that can help the new generations learn
a little bit of what your experiences and the people
that you work.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
But the thing is, I think the models has changed,
like the music industry has changed. You know, the music
industry twenty years ago from what it is today is
different from.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
What talk about Napster, you know, and Nowadai, that's.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Going to be the next big disruptor because all of
a sudden, the artists don't even need to be themselves anymore.
You know, anybody can be who they are and release
a song with their voice and likeness, you know, even visually.
That's scary. You know. There's a lot of agreements, and
one of the things that actually that I was wondering
is like, Okay, so when you usually sign an agreement
with our labeled they say that you give them the
rights to your sounding likeness. That gives them a whole
(28:12):
new definition and power over your identity.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
And it's funny you say that because the past episode
we talked to Dimitri I you need this, and he
is an attorney and he's very much so involved in
the whole innovation, and he was talking about that who
owns now that in the legislation there's no saying yet,
And it's very interesting. I think, like, we're gonna this
(28:38):
could be a whole other conversation. But I think that
definitely you should come back and bring us back some
of that magic that you were sharing back in the day.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
In all this new stuff that you're working.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
I can wait to see and hear everything new that
you've got, and what would be This is the question
that we always ask our guest to have for the
following guest, what would you ask the next person that's
going to be sitting on that chair that you would
like us to ask them.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Asking what they did today to make the roll of
better place?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Man so profound.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I love it, Boston Yellow salven did I can start
in the end as a toy look at Richie pena
estasy and we have to keep up with you. Man.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Where can we find you?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Oh? Yeah, you can find you on Instagram Richiepena r
I C h Y p E n A. You can
also check out my website dot com and just hit
me up say what's up. I'm here. I am from Boston, Capasa, Boston,
Thank you guy so much for having me here. I
have had a blast. This has been my first interview
in a long time, so I'm glad that it happened
(29:47):
with you.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I so appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you so much, Ritchie and kisses to the family,
Thank you our audience.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Boston.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
As a Yellow salven Back applicacy on the iHeartMedia colect E,
Kepasa was on Commoso podcast for our Ethonoseskuchen in German
ninety four five and Roman ninety seven seven. Grassias Inmos
Approximo Domingo.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Cava, Domingo te tramos last Historias, vos ripmons kas Viiicanos,
trako burida parent contra lui timo episode you the k passa.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Visita rum bar went. They see it, They see it.
The punto com
But when I was the as Bollstone, I am so excited.
I cannot even tell you. I say that every morning.
Every morning I say, I'm very excited about the kids
that I'm having today. But today is special. People don't
(00:21):
even imagine that I am actually talking besides being a
great friend of mine and an amazing dad, an amazing husband,
as super wonderful, fantastic producer, award winning and I'm not
talking about a regular award. I'm talking about a Grammy
Award winning producer. He is here to tell me everything
(00:46):
about himself, what he's working on, and the cool projects
that he's planning.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome, Richipenya, thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm really excited to be here. Come on, it makes
a noise. We gotta get live. We gotta get live,
we gotta get alive. No, no, thank you for having me.
I'm really excited to be here, you know. So I'm
looking forward to this conversation. We've known each other for
so long, and I feel like we might actually, you know,
talk about some of the things that we always kind
(01:16):
of like want to hang out and talk about, but
we don't always get to, you know. So I'm excited
to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's it's all about you, Richie today. So who's Richie Penya?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
All right, that's a that's a lot question, that's an
easy one. I know who I am. I am Richie Penya.
I am from the Dominican Republic. I came to Boston
when I was eight years old. We settled in Roxbury,
We lived in Charlestown, we lived in JP, we lived
in russ and Live. We moved all over the place
(01:48):
and I finally went to I went to the Tobn
Elementary School here in Mission Hill. I went to the
Edwards in Charlestown from middle school, and I went to
Madison High in Roxbury for high school. So I am
a product of Boston. I grew up in a time
where Boston was very much the feeling and I think
(02:11):
that it's still there is that we can do anything.
This is why we call the City of Champions.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I love that and what creates the expectation of like
the City of Champions. That's a heavy, you know title,
like because you want to be the best and you
have become the best at what you do. But before
you get to that, you go to New York. I
remember that you started here in Boston. You have your family,
(02:37):
You're one of how many siblings?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I have three brothers, three brothers.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I'm the oldest, and actually I can't even say that
because like, over the years I've been meeting new brothers
and sisters because apparently my dad you know, you know,
having fun, I guess, but I have met actually, in
the last couple of years, I've met I met my
older brother I did not know. Shout out to Abraham Abrang.
(03:05):
I met other brothers that you know, I had not in,
sisters that I had not met or hung out with.
So it's been every few years there's a new cousin
or brother the pops up. But I think right now
they're all covered. I think we've we've got them all down.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
That's perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
And anybody in the music industry just you no.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Out of my family, I know my brother Jason, he's
been very musically incline. So I was like doing music
but old like I kind of took it, you know,
to the next level by going to New York and
really pursuing that as a career.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
How did that happen? How did you get to New York?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It was the closest city to me. You know, I
grew up in so I couldn't travel very far. Like
when I was brought to the US, I was a child,
you know, I was eight years old. So I grew
up you know, kind of like unable to travel because
I was undocumented. And after you know, being here for
(04:05):
so long getting into music, I couldn't get a job.
You know, I couldn't work legally. I remember going to
a job interview when I was in high school. They
were doing this program and you know, it was for
a web design company, and I went there to interview
and the interview went great. I got the job and
then they're like, hey, just come in tomorrow, bring your social,
(04:25):
bring your stuff. So I went home and I was like, money,
where's my social? I needed this, I need that, And
she's like, oh, you don't have a social. And that's
how I found out that.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I was on documented How did you feel?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was weird because you know, that meant that I
couldn't go to college because at the time, and I
still it's still the case. You know, if you were
on documentary or you were from out of the country,
you had to pay like two or three times in
tuition for any of the classes. That's how I was
going to be able to do it. So I wasn't
able to afford that, so I had to work. But
(04:56):
I couldn't work, so you know, I was already doing poets.
I started doing music by doing poetry at the Boys
and Girls Club in Charlestown. It was like that.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Bad point in the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I've met so many beautiful talented people that come from
that program, and as a matter of fact, we're going
to have them over very soon. They're going to do
a little tour with us because we want to inspire them.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But it's so cool that you come from there too.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, I think the Boys and Girls Club really did
a lot to help the local community in Charlestown. Like
I remember, they took all of us, like all the
kids basically from the projects, from the projects and they
brought us out to different places that you gave us
different experiences, but they also just created a nice safe
place for all of us to kind of hang out
and explore different ideas. You know. We would go there
(05:43):
and I would join the Aviation Club, so I learned a.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Little bit about rocket.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Propulsion there and we would play pool. There was a
swimming pool. We also go in the pool basketball And
it was.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Your interest for innovation starts back then, right, And I've.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Always been so curious about just knowing how things work.
So I'm the tope of kid that whenever he got
a remote control car, I would break it apart to
see what was making it work. So I broke a
lot of toys like that. I imagine your mom, like, look,
Anti Bahama moves together as a quarto.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You know, that's so funny.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I was, and I can picture it. I can.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I can totally picture it. So that brings you to
New York because you cannot.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
It was a place for you to.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Go and still be able to follow my dream. So
at the time, you know, I was around maybe fourteen fifteen,
sixteen years old. Uh you know, I started a group
locally in the mill and Mill h l O F
A O. It's a group. Say he's a super burp
(07:00):
like it was super popular. I remember doing like you know,
we used to do parties and we would have like
six seven hundred kids show up to the I'm at
the Carver Lodge the street from the field. There was
a venue that we were able to go in and
do events. And it was just us. There was nobody else,
and we had the four or five hundred kids, six
(07:21):
hundred kids in there like listening to us, performed the
songs that we had giving them in CDs, and you know,
I have a lot of videos of that and.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Cool memories back then.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
See, these people don't because because nowadays it's all in
your phone, right, the iHeart app and Spotify and whatnot.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Everything's on your phone. You have the whole world in
your hands basically.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And what gets you close to the big name Dona matter.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Oh so it's so weird because, like you know, back
in the day, social media wasn't really a thing and
there were very few social media spots like Facebook was.
Actually I used to get sort annoy annoyed because he
needed to have like an email from a college to
sign up. At first, I was like, man, that's bs.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That's true. I remember that.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, everybody needed to have that email. I didn't go
to college for that, so I didn't have that email.
So I was never able to join until it was
later that they opened it up to.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Everybody to well everyone.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
But before that, there was another social platform called MySpace.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Now, what people don't remember is that MySpace used to
actually be a tool for musicians, managers and labels.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yes, yes, yes, I remember that of MySpace.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
It was for you to join and share your music,
so you had all the bands. You used to put
your top five artists or top five.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Friends, way before SoundCloud and all these things came out right,
and I used it as such.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I used it as a tool. So I would search like,
for example, Sony and anyone who was registered on MySpace,
who worked at Sony with pop up, anyone who was registered,
and I would just search like producer, manager, artists, you know.
And I ended up touching base with a guy. His
name is Buddha, not the same Buddha that's from Lawrence.
(09:02):
Another guy a friend of mine, and he lived in Queens.
He was super cool. Uh he I was like, Hey,
he worked at a company called, I want to say
it was UBO EVERYN box office that was at the
time kind of like a uh you know. They were
like an independent but like big Latin label that was
trying to kind of get into the Latin scene back
(09:24):
in the day. So they were signing different artists and
they were releasing music. I think they're also behind and
then you know, I could be wrong, but I think
that had something to do with that whole movement. So
I met this guy he you know, he introduces me
to other people. I ended up moving to Queens and
(09:46):
I ended up moving to Queens because I ended up
meeting another sister at a time who was my older sister, Vanessa. Uh.
She lives in Queens and I'm like, hey, listen, like
you know, I've been going to New York this whole time.
I used to come with my friends and try to
like knock on people's doors. I remember I used to
bother Henry him, can you sign us? What's going on?
(10:09):
We got music? And years later. It's funny because I
actually ended up working in Henri's studio with Donamar and
that's where I mentioned in Nacho and all that stuff.
So it's a really small world of how all that connected. So,
you know, buddhas who presented me to somebody else, and
I ended up meeting this guy egg gun tas shout
(10:29):
out to egg Gunn, who was managing Nelly. So Nell
was working at the time in New Jersey and Casanova
studio and you know, the interviewed with me like yoh,
so what can you do? I was like, bro, I
can engineer, I had videos, I write songs.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
He didn't go to school for that?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Ult double eg guy, what you guys need?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Like you know what I mean? You didn't go to
school for that?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
How did you learn to do all these you know,
technical stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
By spending countless hours in front of my computer trying
to figure how things work.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I love that about you, Ritchie, because there's nothing you
cannot do. Like that initiative that you've always had is
just impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's like so inspiring. And I think that people that are.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Listening to us right now are like, I cannot believe
that a kid that comes from the dr has no papers,
has no Social Security number.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
The doors are closed.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It would have been very easy for you to say
like I can't, right, and you still found a way
to get around it and not only learn new things,
but make it. Man, because you made it and you're
making it still. That is so huge. Is an amazing,
amazing story. So I remember Tony.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Dice, Yes, Tony dies.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
So that was a cool thing because he was like
a little bit like big right, he was starting to
get there, and then you did a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Again we're like popping and so I met only while
working in New York with Donald mar. So long story
short presents me to Donald mar I record him. The
first session he starts to record, I corrected him and
then I'm like, oh my god, I'm correcting Donamar, And
he came out of the move and said, Bro, I
(12:17):
really appreciate that. You know, here's my number. Let's like
stay in charge. We worked on a few other sessions
and at the time, Nellie had to wanted to move
to Miami and I wasn't gonna be able to move
to Miami because of my situation. So I said, Don't, like,
I'm not going to move to Miami. I'm gonna have
to go back to Boston. And Don was like, yo,
bro moving with me. And I lived with Don't for like,
(12:39):
no way two and a half years, bro, which was
crazy and it was one of the coolest experiences of
my life. Shout out to the King. Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And we want to thank them too, because at that
time we got to go visit you Yoie and I
and we went to the first Aventura concert ever that
I was so ex so thank you for taking Richie
to New York. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
It was that was That was a really cool time
of my life. And with Tony Dice when he came
to Boston, we did a lot of great music. We
did so many songs, most of them didn't come out.
I had like two albums come out on his original songs.
This is his original album called But at the time,
Tony had a lot of like you know, label issues,
(13:31):
you know, so a lot of the things didn't come
out or and and other things. The label that he
was with kind of stole the songs no way that
we had done together.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And at the same time, you know, that's a good point,
but I los Cestaci and no Mosica. What are the
things that they have to watch for or what is it now?
Like nowadays it must be so difficult to also own
your own stuff, right especially with AI and everything that
is changing.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
So I think that one of the biggest issues right now, honestly,
is that people take themselves out of the equation before
they are in the game. And what I mean by that,
there's opportunities that come knocking. You know, I can call
someone and say, hey, bro, I need you to like,
you know, I got this opportunity. I'm going to send
you some my competiti so that you can put something together.
(14:21):
Let me see what you've got. Now, I expect somebody
to say, hey, I got you, let me see what
you got. Let's make it. Let's make it happen, because
I don't work with money being the main reason of
why I'm doing what you're doing. I love this stuff,
you know. I love doing music. And when I work
with somebody, they either have the same love that I
(14:43):
have or they don't. Now that people that have the
same love that I have just create great music and
they work together and we at the end of the day,
we figure out what we're going to the business side
of things now needs to be done. But when I
offer you an opportunity and the first question that comes
out of your mouth is like, what's going to be
my percentage? What am I going to get paid? And
you haven't even done anything for the project. I can't
(15:04):
tell you how much I'm gonna pay you or what
percentage you're gonna get. And I don't even know if
I'm gonna take what you do. You know what I mean.
But that's to me, that's like a turn off. I
think that you know, in life, there's two ways that
you can be. You can kind of like you know,
and there's different ways of being in life, you know,
so don't take this as like the absolute way that
(15:24):
you have to be. I'm the type of person that
I like to do as much as possible in the
little time that I have. We have one life. I
can be like I said and call you to be
happy when doing what you're doing. There's people that you know,
get comfortable and they go slowly, and that's okay too,
(15:45):
you know, but you see that's at.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
To make it happen.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I need to move and I need I need to
get things done.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And you know, you're saying something very important, especially because
there's a couple of times you mentioned it. One is
you're very proud for from being a BO and being
also part of like the projects and how you grew
up and you're a.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Boston, Boston product.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And then you're talking about the purpose, right, your purpose
for producing, creating and people's awareness of it of like
that social responsibility and whatever else is happening that is
beyond the material stuff and the money. I remember you
creating the Boston Music Conference back then because you cared
about the music industry. It was not because you wanted
(16:30):
to be the biggest conference and bring all these artists.
It was because you wanted people to keep learning because
here in Boston there was nothing about music right.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Well, when I was before, you know, I mentioned that
I have been going to New York knocking on doors.
One of the things that we were also doing was
like going to different conferences and just looking for opportunities,
looking to network with other people that were in the
industry or get some industry inside from these people. And
it worked for me. This is, you know, one of
the ways that I met different people from different labels
(16:59):
and I was to connect. But that wasn't happening in Boston.
So in two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight,
we threw around the idea of doing the Boston Music Conference.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Which, by the way, Carol g mentions in a video
and she actually came to the Boston Music Conference before
she became that big star she's.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Now, which I didn't know, which I did not know
that the same And that's like, you know, it just
shows you, like you know, when you do things with love,
like the BMC was something that we put together. It
was my wife and I Jody Mendoza shout out to
Jody my.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Baby, Yeah, I love her.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
But like you know, it was something that was meant
to really help and educate and empower the local community
and people who not just music producers or artists, but
also anyone who wanted to get into the music industry
and do marketing, do management and things that were not
necessarily you know, in the forefront of being the artist
of the producer or you know, more like the scene.
Because the music industry there's so many different careers paths
(18:03):
that you can choose, you know, so it's a matter
of like really educating and really educating everyone to know
what was available to them.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So the Boston Music Conference comes from Boston, Richie Penya
comes from Boston, but there's something that comes from Boston
that is very dear to your heart me Nina Bonita.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yes, so a lot of people don't know this, but
was born in Boston for those that don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
And I imagine, you know, because that song is still
so relevant that Billboard even has an article about it.
But Minina mea right, yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
You know what's crazy. We didn't think that that song
was gonna be such a hit. I liked the song
when we first did it. I thought it was great,
but like you know, we did we had a party
and it was on a cruise and I played the
song bro and then everybody just like and I was like,
oh my god, this song tank two. Three months later,
(19:03):
there were people outside of my apartment in downtown singing
the song to me because they come downstairs and hang out,
like it was written.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
That's so cool, but bring me back. How did you
get Chini Natur in Boston?
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Chini Natur? I met them in New York while working
with Donald Mar. We had done a song together Beam
then that was the first song that Chine Natural did
with Donald Mar. And it's like, you know, this is
when came out.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
More electric, more you know, and.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
In that song as well, so like it was like
is it gonna go very digital or is it gonna
go very tropical? It was still kind of like in between.
Dorado hadn't come out, and hadn't come out, none of
these big records that have later changed the kind of
like the sound pop five, right, you know. The Billboard
(20:01):
article came out in December of twenty twenty three, and
it named Minnevo Nita as the song number thirty in
a list of fifty songs that were like the top
fifty songs to come out from twenty twenty to twenty
twenty four, and Mina was listened as number thirty like
Mineoita ended up really changing the sound and the whole
(20:26):
music industry.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I mean, that's what got you your Grammy.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
It got us the Grammy. It helped us and boosted
our careers, and it gave us.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
More of.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
You know, the only thing that you know what I mean,
Like I feel like, you know, I grew up in
a very diverse upbringing. My mom would listen to Juangabriel
Ana Gabriel and I would be like, you know, listening
to that music in the car, but then when I
put on my headphones, I would be listening to like
Biggie and Tupac and other people that were also relevant
(20:58):
at the time. So it was really, you know, it
was it's a big mix of all of these different
influences that were in my life into one little thing
if you listen to has a lot of like do
wop from the fifties, because I love that like stand
by Me sort of sound. You know. It was funny
because Prince Royce ended up coming out with stand by
(21:18):
Me kind of like around the same time. Yes, yes,
and we actually sat together. He was sat next to
me at the Grammys when we went right away.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We went together.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yes, yeah, I was there is all of that.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I was so cool.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Party, remember that. Yes, But Richie, I have so many questions.
I have so much to ask. We have just a
very little time. And one of the things that are
important to me for every guest that comes in here,
and because the audience there is so important to me
as well, what can we talk? What can we say
(21:54):
about your legacy? Because you have three children now, your
family is amazing, You're so deadicate. You're also into farming
and these other things that would never in a million
years imagine that reach opinion would be involved. But what
would you tell your kids now? What are you doing
for them? What would you like them to feel when
they hear the name?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, your father is rich Openia.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You know, I want my kids to grow up to
be strong men, but I also want them to be empathetic.
I want them to, you know, be hard workers. And
I'm leading them by example because we work hard and
we work long, long hours. You know, if I had
(22:41):
to leave a legacy for my kids, I would hope
to leave the world a better place and give them
the tools that they need to leave at a better
place and continue to do that because I feel like
we're lacking leadership right now.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
That's so true.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know, we're lacking leadership for young women, for young men.
You know, I grew up without a dad, so I
know all the ways of how I can be a
bad dad, you know, because that was my experience growing
up without a dad. So it's a lot easier to
be a good dad when you know what being a
(23:16):
bad dad is like. You know, I hope that you
know the things that we're doing now they see the
importance in what we're doing. You know, you mentioned that
we're doing farming. I think it's important to take care
of our of our our country, our earth, our planet.
You know, I feel that we've kind of lost touch
(23:42):
with you know, nature, We've lost touch with the things
that are really important. Family, spending time together and having
those little moments that you know can mean you know,
maybe nothing to you, but mean the world to them.
You know, that's a that's a deep question.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Having that's a beautiful answery and I am so proud
of you. But I also have to give it up
to Jody too, because she's been standing by your side.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
How many years has it been now.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
She's we've been together for.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Almost twenty years.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
See we met in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Almost twenty years A long time. I know it is
a long time, but I can tell you like when
you find your partner, they just can't add to your
life and you can just grow and become who you
really are meant to be, because there are some other
times that people hold you back, right, and you both
have done such a tremendous job raising those kids, being
(24:44):
part of the community.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Ritchie, I am so eager to see what is next.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Is there anything you want to share about your future
product project?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So you know, I have been kind of taking a
break from music or I have been taking a break
from music and during that time, and what I worked
on was at the farm. We bought a farm that
we are bringing into the new age. So my UH
kind of like my task there and what I'm having
fun doing is bringing in all these new technologies. So
I'm bringing in artificial intelligence that is being run locally
(25:17):
with our own with our own computing power, connecting and
UH designing a system for the irrigation that's going to
be automated, designed by me, and the whole purpose of
that is to really I want to figure out this
whole farming situation. You know, farming is not necessarily the
most profitable business to be in, but it's also so
(25:38):
important to who we are as humans. Like we all
need good food, we all need healthy food, and food
that's not grown with pesticize or any other chemicals we're
going to like, you know, disrupt your your body. So
to me, that's like, you know, one of the one
of the funniest things that I am doing right now.
Something else though, during the same time I've been working
(26:00):
with developing applications, I think AI really changed a lot.
Oh yes, Like like I have found myself being so
much more productive and doing things that I didn't think
we're going to be possible for a single person to do.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
But you've been doing things that are impossible all along.
What do you mean, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It doesn't feel like that, trust me. It's it's I
spent a lot of time in front of my computer
just learning new things, just a visionary but like I
don't know, I just like learning things like literally this morning,
like last night. I went to sleep at eleven o'clock
and I was like reading a diagram for how to
wire Solinois water valves.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Ye speak to me in Spanish. Yeah, you know, I
have no idea.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So it's just like, you know, learning is fun, you
know right now, like for music, I'm really excited to
get back into music. I am in the process of
building on my studio. I am really doing a lot
of virtual production. I've gotten into virtual production using different software,
not using AI for that yet.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
But do you see the future of music.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I think the music industry should be broken apart and
a new music industry should be born. I think that
we should forget about what we know from the music
industry and we need to create a new one. That's
one of the things that I would love to be
able to do.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Maybe you can bring up more conferences or more TED
talks or something that can help the new generations learn
a little bit of what your experiences and the people
that you work.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
But the thing is, I think the models has changed,
like the music industry has changed. You know, the music
industry twenty years ago from what it is today is
different from.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
What talk about Napster, you know, and Nowadai, that's.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Going to be the next big disruptor because all of
a sudden, the artists don't even need to be themselves anymore.
You know, anybody can be who they are and release
a song with their voice and likeness, you know, even visually.
That's scary. You know. There's a lot of agreements, and
one of the things that actually that I was wondering
is like, Okay, so when you usually sign an agreement
with our labeled they say that you give them the
rights to your sounding likeness. That gives them a whole
(28:12):
new definition and power over your identity.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
And it's funny you say that because the past episode
we talked to Dimitri I you need this, and he
is an attorney and he's very much so involved in
the whole innovation, and he was talking about that who
owns now that in the legislation there's no saying yet,
And it's very interesting. I think, like, we're gonna this
(28:38):
could be a whole other conversation. But I think that
definitely you should come back and bring us back some
of that magic that you were sharing back in the day.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
In all this new stuff that you're working.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
I can wait to see and hear everything new that
you've got, and what would be This is the question
that we always ask our guest to have for the
following guest, what would you ask the next person that's
going to be sitting on that chair that you would
like us to ask them.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Asking what they did today to make the roll of
better place?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Man so profound.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I love it, Boston Yellow salven did I can start
in the end as a toy look at Richie pena
estasy and we have to keep up with you. Man.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Where can we find you?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Oh? Yeah, you can find you on Instagram Richiepena r
I C h Y p E n A. You can
also check out my website dot com and just hit
me up say what's up. I'm here. I am from Boston, Capasa, Boston,
Thank you guy so much for having me here. I
have had a blast. This has been my first interview
in a long time, so I'm glad that it happened
(29:47):
with you.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I so appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you so much, Ritchie and kisses to the family,
Thank you our audience.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Boston.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
As a Yellow salven Back applicacy on the iHeartMedia colect E,
Kepasa was on Commoso podcast for our Ethonoseskuchen in German
ninety four five and Roman ninety seven seven. Grassias Inmos
Approximo Domingo.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Cava, Domingo te tramos last Historias, vos ripmons kas Viiicanos,
trako burida parent contra lui timo episode you the k passa.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Visita rum bar went. They see it, They see it.
The punto com
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