Marece “Rich Boy” Richards, a Mobile rapper who scored a Top 10 hit in 2006 with “Throw Some D’s,” was in jail Sunday amid bizarre circumstances that had some in the local hip-hop community concerned for his wellbeing and mental health.
According to jail logs, Marece Benjamin Richards was booked Friday on two third-degree domestic violence charges, one specifying harassment and the other assault. As of Sunday morning, he remained in jail.
Meanwhile, a snippet of video circulating on social media showed Richards involved in some sort of confrontation. In it, Richards shirtless, is wearing shorts suitable for yard work and holding a pair of long-handled loppers suitable for trimming branches. His appearance in the video and in his booking photo is a long way from the immaculately groomed style he is known for.
The source of the video was unclear, as was its exact relation, if any, to the arrest.
“It’s crazy … when you up [people] be quiet as a mouse,” wrote Elric Jerel Simon, who records and performs as Rellik. “But any sign of you being down or in a different space, your name is going to ring like a church bell. Prayers up and love to my bro Rich.”
“Sending love to our hometown hero!” rapper Bianca Clarke posted Friday. Numerous others commented that the situation called for empathy. “I love Rich Boy!” posted a fan. “He was always so nice when he came to visit LeFlore my freshman year and when he came in to eat at Wintzells. I pray that he gets the help he needs. There’s nothing funny about it.”
Life appeared to be going normally for Richards at least as recently as late August, when he posted a video of himself dropping a customed ‘70s Oldsmobile Cutlass off for some new work.
Court records show at least one possible reason for Richards to be facing difficulties: A seemingly endless dispute over the collection of a 2008 legal judgment.
That situation began with a 2005 incident in which an accountant had an encounter on Government Boulevard with a Cadillac driven by Richards and occupied by his brother, Irvin O. Richards Jr.
Gunfire from the Cadillac left the accountant with injuries from ricocheting bullet fragments; the brothers pleaded guilty to attempted assault, with Irvin Richards Jr. receiving a 10-year sentence and Marece Richards receiving probation.
The case took place right before Marece Richards’ rise to fame: In 2006 Rich Boy’s single “Throw Some D’s” went to No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100, putting him among a handful of artists with Mobile ties ever to score a Top 10. The accompanying album, “Rich Boy,” went to No. 3 on the Billboard 2000 in 2007 and topped the U.S. rap chart.
It was a career high for Rich Boy, who went on to maintain a relatively low-profile, but still highly regarded, position in the local rap community.
However, a civil suit related to the 2005 encounter ground on. In 2008 a jury issued a judgement against Richards and his brother for $25,000 in compensatory damages and $312,500 in punitive damages. Since then, the court record details a long and contentious process to find and garnish Richards’ sources of income. Queries about garnishment have been sent to numerous music-industry entities, including Interscope Records, ASCAP and BMI.
The most recent substantial document filed in the case is an amended garnishment document filed in mid-September. The garnishee is BMI, a company that has said it handles accrued and future royalties for Richards’ music.
The document indicates that the original judgment amount of $337,500 is now overshadowed by more than $500,000 in accrued interest, with the plaintiff now seeking a total of nearly $850,000. A credit line in the accounting suggests that less than $30,000 has been collected.
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