Riche Lombardi Made Resilience Reverberate Through Melodic Hip-Hop in Don’t Start with Me –

Riche Lombardi uses hypnotically cadenced bars as his form of juggernautical conviction, emotive delivery as the sharpest weapon in his arsenal, and melodically reflective instrumentals to amplify the humanism in his thematic underpinnings. In his latest single and music video, Don’t Start with Me, he waxes lyrical across uncharted territory; his vulnerability allows him to exhibit an unreckonable kind of resilience. There is no aggression here, only a baring of all the scars that have made him unshakable, set against emotively cinematic minor-key piano melodies that soundtrack one of the rawest melodic hip-hop records of the year.

Hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, Lombardi has built his sound on transforming trauma into testimony, shaping pain into punchlines and healing into hooks. A survivor of the foster system, he has become a voice for the unheard, writing for men taught to bottle their emotions, for women searching for emotional sanctuary, and for anyone quietly navigating their own wars.

His upcoming debut project, Just Hear Me Out, promises to keep that emotional fluency at the core, but with Don’t Start with Me, he has already delivered an anthem that proves the power in vulnerability can be louder than rage.

Don’t Start with Me is now available on all major streaming platforms. For the full experience, stream the official music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast