Rittz spent six years inside Tech N9ne’s Strange Music operation — learning how an independent label actually runs, how to tour it, how to grow it — and walked out the moment his contract allowed it. That was 2018. Since then he has been running his own imprint, CNT Entertainment, on his own terms. Twelve albums into a career built first in someone else’s house and then entirely his own, he brings his rapid-fire delivery and Atlanta-suburb instincts to Montage Music Hall in Rochester on Friday, November 20.
About the Show
Born Jonathan McCollum in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, and raised in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Rittz came up in a household where his parents were “heavily into rock and roll” while Atlanta’s booming bass and rap scene was reshaping everything outside the front door. That collision runs through his style: rapid-fire delivery, gritty storytelling, and a technical precision built from caring about both. He took the name Rittz as a self-deprecating nod to the Nabisco cracker — a reference to his race and his distinctive long, curly hair and beard — and has spent the years since making it mean something specific in independent rap.
He signed with Strange Music in 2012 and over the next six years put four albums on the Billboard charts. He debuted nationally in 2013 with The Life and Times of Jonny Valiant and the single “Switch Lanes” featuring Mike Posner. His 2014 follow-up, Next to Nothing, added “In My Zone” with Mike Posner and B.o.B and “Bounce” with Twista — two of those collaborations earned RIAA Gold certification. His final Strange Music album, Last Call, hit #43 on the Billboard 200 in 2017. He departed the following year and told Westword: “I signed in 2012 and learned a lot from [Tech N9ne], but I’ve been rapping so long, I just wanted to get a bigger piece of the pie and be my own boss.” He has worked with Tech N9ne, Yelawolf, and Twiztid throughout his career. His 2023 album MellowLOvationMusic came with a 46-city national tour. Rochester is currently one of only two confirmed fall dates on his calendar. No support act has been announced for the November 20 show.
Venue & Logistics
Montage Music Hall is at 50 Chestnut St in Rochester, part of the Western New York concert circuit, presented by Rochester Entertainment. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show is 16 and up.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Tickets go on sale August 21 via Etix. Buy tickets