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The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant is the debut studio album by American rapper Rittz. The album was released on April 30, 2013, by Strange Music. The album features guest appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Mike Posner, Suga Free, Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko and Yelawolf.

Background

In August 2012, Rittz signed to Tech N9ne's Strange Music record label. In November 2012, in an interview with HipHopDX Rittz explained that he was 11 tracks into his debut album, saying "With the 11 songs that I got already, the way I work is that I get the base set. If I can get the base set of the overall sound I’m looking for - the vibe of the album - then I can sprinkle in the other types of records. Story song, insert here. Girl song, insert here. But the music; the production; the beats actually set the tone. I think I’ve gotten that. So, as long as I’ve gotten that - I was a little worried at first because I wasn’t set on the beats. But now I got it. Now it’s just time to put in the spices and make it a complete thing." In April 2013, in an interview with HipHopDX Rittz explained why he chose The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant as the album title, saying "When Yelawolf came out with “White Jesus,” I was rapping with another group of people, and my album was going to be called Jonny Valiant Volume Zero. Jonny Valiant is like a nickname of mine...like an alias. It was something back in the day when I was coming up with aliases and shit. Mine was Rittz aka Jonny Valiant, and my real name is Jonny. So the album is real personal. This is the life of Jonny Valiant. It’s a personal look into my life. With White Jesus, it is what it is, and now let’s move on to a more mature stage and really let people in and show who the fuck I am."

He also explained how he took a different approach from his previous mixtapes, saying "It’s different because I was in a huge time crunch. I was on the Slumerican tour, and I knew I had to write the album...so it’s really hard to write on the bus. I might’ve wrote five songs on the bus. I had a deadline to get an album done on January 31, with recording and everything. I had to come back from the tour in late November and really write it all so fast. The good thing is I knew it was coming, so I got with DJ Burn One about the type of production I wanted. Once I got the backbone of the production, I can put the different spices in different tastes of flavors on top of that. But I needed that backbone. Luckily, Burn One already had those beats sitting in my e-mail to give it that sound, and then I really took the words to it. The difference from this and other projects is really being in a time crunch. I really had to just not over-critique myself and wake up every morning and say, “Look, no matter what happens today, you gotta get at least a song or two done. And you got to present it until this thing’s done.” I never had to do that before."

He also explained the meaning behind one of the songs on the album titled "Fuck Swag", saying, "It was mainly the word, “swag.” It’s one of those songs where you’re angry. The beat already had the sample saying swag on it. It’s irritating. It’s like, “Swag, swag,” so I was like, “Fuck swag.” I’m just hanging around the studio and all the dudes be like, “You good, man? How you doing? I’m good, man. Swag.” They like to say swag where it’s not even necessary anymore. Having swag used to be having that swagger on the mic and you know, the little pauses and that. But it’s almost too much swag these days. Everybody is just so swagged out. It’s like, “Fuck swag and fuck you.” Nowadays, everybody tries to be so different that to stand out as an artist, being different isn’t different anymore. It’s almost too far and too many rappers looking like Lenny Kravitz. I’ll be at clubs, and I can’t tell who raps, who sings in Rock bands. It’s all just a big mess. So you ask people about mess and it’s like, “Shit, that’s my swag.” Well you know what? Fuck your swag ."

Singles

The first single "Switch Lanes" featuring Mike Posner was released on April 12, 2013. On April 10, 2013, the music video was released for "Like I Am".

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
HipHopDX

The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Edwin Ortiz of HipHopDX gave the album four out of five stars, saying "While Rittz hasn’t yet reached his recording pinnacle, The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant provides a thorough impression of his abilities as well as what he can strive for in the coming years. Going on nearly two decades since he first grasped the notion of becoming an emcee, it may have taken longer than expected, but Rittz is finally seeing the fruits of his labor flourish."

Track listing

References

1. "iTunes - Music - The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant (Deluxe Edition) by Rittz". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
2. "The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant (Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]: Rittz: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
3. "XXcLusive: Tech N9ne's Strange Music Signs Rittz [VIDEO] - XXL". Xxlmag.com. 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
4. Company, The (2012-11-29). "Rittz Ponders Why He Isn't Mentioned Amongst Other White Rappers, Explains "Two Atlantas"". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-05-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
5. ^ Nguyen, Michael (2013-04-30). "Rittz Affirms "Fuck Swag" Stance; Says He Doesn't Believe In Selling Out". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
6. "iTunes - Music - Switch Lanes (feat. Mike Posner) - Single by Rittz". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-04-12. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
7. "Rittz - "Like I Am"". HipHop DX. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
8. ^ Ortiz, Edwin (2013-04-29). "Rittz - The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
9. "Rittz - The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant - Audio CD - Underground Hip Hop - Store". Ughh.com. Retrieved 2013-05-08.

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