That slowing down came with a five-month break from touring, during which Rittz composed the bulk of Top Of The Line. I had to really be like, ‘You need to slow down and start respecting what you do a little bit more.’”

I had to go to the hospital in North Carolina. “I came back home from the Slumerican Made tour with a knee injury from partying and overdoing it,” Rittz admits. The powerful song “Just Say No” chronicles how the tour with Yelawolf went wrong. While raising hell for months at a time was fun (as documented on the rousing “All Night”), it wasn’t without consequences. The ups and downs of life on tour are a big theme on Top Of The Line. He toured again with Yela, as well as Kxng Crooked (formerly Crooked I), and headlined shows all over the country. Since his last album’s release, Rittz continued to prove his mettle on the road. Two successful releases, The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant and Next to Nothing, followed – as did a show-stopping appearance on the 2013 BET Awards Cypher. Tech, never one to let a good opportunity pass him by, quickly signed Rittz to his Strange Music label. Wolf then sang the rapper’s praises to Tech N9ne. In 2012, Rittz began his ascension by touring with rising star, Yelawolf.

And at this point in the Atlanta rapper’s career, few would disagree with this assessment. “When it comes to rapping and this style that I do, it’s as good as it gets.” The title of Rittz’ new album Top Of The Line came from an unlikely source – a friend’s passing ad-lib on his 2014 LP Next to Nothing. “One of my buddies said, ‘If you’re not fucking with Rittz, you’re not top of the line’ – meaning that when I write songs, I write to the highest standard,” says Rittz.

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