Life is long enough that an artist can choose multiple lanes and career aspects, putting time into those passions to excel. Ron Suno was just a 13-year-old kid from The Bronx when he started rhyming in 2014, and even dropped a song titled "Murder." But even at such a young age, Ron wanted to enter other avenues to bring attention to his music, so he decided to focus his energy on being an online comedian at 15 years old.
Now, at nearly 1 million Instagram followers and earning popularity through various viral moments, Ron has become so popular for comedy that he's been able to live in two separate worlds. Plenty of fans have no idea he makes music and on the flip side, the rest don't know he does comedy. Little did he know, his popularity would take a leap in just a few years once he dropped his single "Pinocchio."
Released in late 2019, "Pinocchio" is an infectious song with a catchy hook and Ron's distinctive voice that make it stick out. The track has a similar vibe to a lot of the Brooklyn drill music coming out of New York City, but Ron's sense of humor and confidence sells the track. All those sticking points have made this become his most popular song with a video that racked up 10 million views in nine months.
He followed up that track with "Spider-Man" featuring Fivio Foreign in April of this year. Then Ron remixed "Pinocchio" with Blueface in May. Soon after, he released his project, Swag Like Mike, in June, and has successfully pushed both his comedy career and music career at the same time. Right before the summer hit, Ron made waves on the internet with the Hip Hop Harry Dance Challenge, which he claims he created. Hip Hop Harry, a children’s TV program that mixes rap music with learning lessons, became the backdrop for Ron's dance video, which has reached all corners of social media, from TikTok to Facebook.
Whether he's getting tons of retweets because he danced with Hip Hop Harry on Instagram, or churning out yet another song that shows off his personality, the rapper finds a way to keep all eyes in his direction.
Talking to XXL over the phone, Ron Suno shares more of his journey for the latest edition of The Break.
Age: 19
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
I grew up listening to: "A lot of old school people like 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Trey Songz, Biggie, Tupac. I was all over the place when I was younger. I ain't going to lie, out of all of them, I got to say, Soulja Boy. What he did is something like what I did, too. I liked the way how he put his craft on social media and he made himself a millionaire, you feel me? 'Crank Dat Soulja Boy,' he posted on MySpace, then the next day it went viral. So, him to just do that and go viral with technology and bring that to the world, that new wave. If you look into it, he a genius. I understand that type of craft he had."
My style’s been compared to: "I see a lot of people showing love saying to me my vibe is different. I pave my own way for the type of own style, the way I rap, because the way my flow is, I'm trying to perfect the flow that nobody ever touched. What I'll do is, when I say, 'Can't touch like this, can't move like this,' [on 'Pinnochio'], that's a flow that I never heard somebody use. I hear a lot of people saying I sound like Pop Smoke, too, you feel me? There's nothing wrong with that for me. But at the end of the day, I'm not trying to sound like nobody. I've been rapping for mad long, so that's how it goes."
I’m going to blow up because: "When I was in school, every time I was in class, my brain was just, it would never let me do work. I couldn't do work because I was too busy writing songs in class and I was writing too much ideas. And I knew that was bad because school was important. When I was younger, I used to go to my principal's office and rap for all my teachers. They all used to gather up in the principal's room, I used to give them like six songs. They used to go crazy."
What’s your most slept-on song, and why?: "I got this song on YouTube called 'Semi.' I dropped this song on my birthday, so you know this song really came from the heart. I'm the only drill rapper from The Bronx, you feel me? I had to show that I can do that in my own lane. That song right there, I felt like I had so much bars that other people hadn't. There's a lot of people that understand where I was coming from in that song because I was explaining everything."
My standout records to date have been: "Definitely 'Pinocchio.' That'd be my biggest song because every kid that went to school in The Bronx, we had visited every school. We did TikTok challenges, it's all over social media. So, that song's got to be the best that I ever did, and I had the best feedback on it. I did the song 'Swag Like Mike.' 'Pinocchio' got me lit, I swear to God. I might even make a song called 'Pinocchio Got Me Lit,' too.
"Back in the day, of course, everybody knew that I started rapping, but they didn't understand me. So the people that was just following me, they just thought I was a comedian. So, for the people that heard 'Pinocchio,' that gave me a lot of music fans that I could grow with, instead of my community of fans looking into my music. I had a separate fan base, just for music, that people didn't even know I did comedy.
"Because my music is serious and for me, I would never make a funny song. You would never hear me go in the booth and make a funny song, but I will do a funny skit, you feel me? I always separate my music from my comedy."
My standout moments to date have been: "When I went to Cali and I was in a room with Tyga's manager and we was talking about, in five hours, money and investments. Trippie Redd was there, too. Me being young and learning that, from somebody that's already in the rap game, it gave me a key of what to do, like a head start. So, I want to say shout out to him, too."
Most people don’t know: "A lot of people don't know I'm really a genius. I think I'm really a scientist, man. Longer down the line, people are going to understand where I'm coming from because my brain, the way it thinks, and I'll process the visions, and these thoughts, my craft. I swear to God, if people understood, they'd go crazy right now."
I’m going to be the next: "Up-and-coming rapper. Nobody will mess with me. Niggas know the Scouts, Ron Suno. I'm from The Bronx, we will make a difference. I'm going to be the next rapper, you heard?"
Follow Ron Suno on SoundCloud and Instagram.
Standouts:
"Pinocchio"
"Spider-Man" featuring Fivio Foreign
Swag Like Mike
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