Toronto, ON - One of Toronto's biggest up and comers is Count Money Cartel front-man Richie Sosa. Born on April 8th 1983, as Omar West Forbes, he was dubbed the name Richie Sosa (which is a two part acronym R.I.C.H.I.E. standing for Real Ignorant Curb Hustling In Effect and S.O.S.A. standing for Son Of a Street Animal). After coming together with a crew of people from various regions in Toronto, a movement was born known as M-CITY'S FINEST (Mega City).

While Sosa has appeared on various mixtapes and several big remixes including Drake's "City Is Mine" Remix, he only just recently released his own solo project - Count Money Vol. 1 - The First Million [click here to purchase]. The mixtape features a variety of freestyles, dubplates and original exclusives as well as a large supporting cast. Sosa sat down with HipHopCanada.com to discuss his mixtape, his aspirations as an artist and what to expect from him next. Check it out!

HHC: I always start my interviews with a little bit of background information. Now I have seen your bio and press all over the place, but for those who haven't I need to let them know what you're all about. I read that you have had some previous confrontations with the law, prior to taking music seriously. What got you more focused on the music?
Music has always been a passion of mine growing up and I felt that it was a way for me to break the vicious cycle of being constantly locked up.

HHC: You have been rapping since you were 14. What were some of your main musical influences?
Busta Rhymes, Heltah Skeltah, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Soundsmith Productions, Nas, Styles P, Canibus, and my boy Big Norm.

HHC: How do you feel you incorporate the music that influences you, with your own original style in your music?
I just bring my own swagger to a game that has been around before I even cared it existed.

HHC: What defines your style?
My style can't be defined by one word. I would say that my style is mostly defined by my personality and also by my life experiences; what I've seen and what I've been through. When you hear me on the mic, I want for you to be able to picture my rhymes in your head. When I record a track I want it to be like a motion picture, you've got the setting (the beat), the story (the lyrics) and the special effects (the overdubs). My music is an experience for the listener and it has my style painted all over it. It's all about the swagger.

HHC: What sets it apart from other rappers? Why should someone go and buy your mixtape and/or album instead of buying something else? Or rather, why should an average listener go buy a Richie Sosa album instead of buying the latest 50 Cent/Kanye West etc.? What makes your music stand out?
What sets me apart from other rappers is the fact that I'm trying to create music anybody can listen to. Something for everybody, something introspective, creative, hood, gutter, intelligent, and obviously something you can move to. I'm not trying lump myself into one particular category to the point where a consumer with distinct musical interests feels that he/she won't be able to relate to what I have to say. Also as I evolve as an artist I hope to be able to touch on topics to help these misguided youths with distorted perceptions of reality come to terms with the fact that they are not alone, in this modern day hell hole that has been commonly referred to as "life".

HHC: What is your take on hip-hop in Canada?
It's extremely underdeveloped and in great need of some serious guidance. But I do believe it is on its way to being close to something legitimate.

HHC: Anything you would change or like to see done differently?
I would love to see more of a push, more faith in the artists. For instance why are signed Canadian artists still getting VideoFact grants? The labels that sign these Canadian artists don't even have enough faith in them to provide the necessary resources they need to survive in a struggling market.

HHC: Tell me about you and Soundsmith. They're the production team behind you. How did you guys hook up and how has the relationship been so far?
That's MY TEAM, I hooked up with Y-not and Mack Milli in 2003 and since then it's been a wrap. The creative chemistry is ridiculous as far as the whole music thing is concerned. I feel that as a collective, Soundsmith Productions has played an extremely important role in molding my sound as an artist. The fact that the whole team (Neenyo and Ritchie included) do what they do with such ease is mind-boggling.

HHC: You have done a lot of collaborations with other artists and have been featured on their singles and/or releases. In fact, on your mixtape Count Money Vol.1 - The First Million [click here to purchase], you have plenty of other artists featured including Houston, Logik, NEM-S-ISS & Knucks, Aristo, Calibur, Luu Breeze, Darryl Riley and many others. What are some of your favorite artists that you like to work with, and why? What is it about their style or work ethics that makes you want to keep working with them?
I liked working with everybody on my mixtape because everybody I work with, I work with for a reason. Most of these guys don't sleep just like me so the grind is there, the swaggers there, and at the end of the day that's all I need to see to want to work with somebody. Also Toronto is a small city and most of these guys are family to me one way or another. I tend to keep a very tightly knit circle of artists I work with so when it comes to local acts rarely will you see me step outside of this circle.

HHC: Any artists in Toronto that you look up to or you admire or have not had a chance to work with yet?
I look up to a lot of the pioneers in Canadian hip-hop that I grew up listening to: JB (and the whole GCP), Point Blank, Ghetto Concept, Madlox, Kardinal, and of course Maestro Fresh Wes. Sometimes I feel that even the work they put in over the years goes unappreciated (especially by the new up and coming rappers). Most people don't realize what an impact their hard work and dedication has had in molding the hip-hop music industry in Canada today, as we know it.

HHC: Do you think Canadian hip-hop had its golden era already, or we have yet to experience it?
I don't think that Canadian hip-hop and golden should even be in the same sentence yet. It's pretty sad. There's talent up here but rappers are just hustling to their own hoods and aren't looking at the bigger picture. It doesn't really mean anything if your hood loves you. The whole country needs to know who you are; the whole International market needs to know who you are. I think it's essential that rappers focus beyond their hoods because you can never blow up with that type of mentality. In order for Canadian hip-hop to experience a 'GOLDEN ERA' its going to take good business moves, quality music and the support of the country. America and the rest of the world won't support Canadian hip-hop until we have the support of our own country. With that said, stop dick riding the states and support Canadian hip-hop.

HHC: You have your single "Don't call me" playing on Flow 93.5 right now. What's the song about?
(Laughing) LISTEN TO THE WORDS! You're trying to get me in trouble with females eh Lola? The song is self-explanatory within the lyrics. I don't want to go into any specifics. To all my Mega City fans get on your phones, your emails and request it. And to my international fans I apologize, a big International single will be hitting airwaves worldwide soon. Let's get it cracking!

HHC: Any of your favorite songs off the mixtape?
"The Cannon Freestyle" and "M-City Stomp".

HHC: Yeah, I think the Cannon Freestyle is hot. What do you plan to accomplish with this mixtape? What are your goals for it?
I plan to accomplish a lot of things with this mixtape. Many people don't know this but this is my first solo mixtape. The point of it was to let people know who I am, where I'm from and what I sound like. I want people to get acquainted with me and know what to expect from me in the future: Nothing but quality! This mixtape was just a warm up, something I had to do for my fans who been showing me love ever since I started to do this. At the end of the day my goal with this mixtape is the same as everybody else's: to be heard by as many people as possible.

HHC: What about your goals as an artist? Where is it that you want to be?
My goal as an artist (and personally) is to create a blueprint of unfathomable success for the next generation to follow. As I said before, I want to make music that everyone can relate to. Business wise, I've got many entrepreneurial ideas and goals that I can't reveal because a hustler never shows his plate to someone who's hungry! Obviously, I want to be at the top and I wouldn't do this if I didn't. Everything I do, I do 110%. I believe that hard work pays off and when the time is right things will pop off. Everything happens for a reason and nothing comes before its time.

HHC: I agree, hard work does pay off. When can we look forward to an album?
I'm actually in the process of writing my first album and hopefully by the summer of '07 the world will hear it. Look forward to production by Soundsmith, Boi-1da, Davenport, Ill Tracks and more.

HHC: Ok Sosa... we're almost at the end of our interview, is there anything else in the works that you'd like to talk about?
I can't spoil surprises by announcing things before they happen but I can tell you that there is a lot of big things in the works. For all the readers: Stay tuned to HHC to find out and make sure you check out: http://www.myspace.com/richiesosa regularly. If you have any questions, comments, inquiries etc. get at me through info@richiesosa.com. Also, don't forget my mixtape is on sale now! If you don't have it, go get it! Buy it on HipHopCanada.com! [click here to purcahse the mixtape]

HHC: Any shout outs?
Yeah daddy… the whole Count Money Cartel, DJ Asiatic, Luu breeze, Knoxx Hoffa, Hakeem, M-loxx, Zalezy, Big Norm, Soundsmith Productions,Y-Not, Mack, Neenyo, Ritchie, Bobby Cox, Cool V, Nir Escobar, Dragz from The Lair Studios, Remo da RapStar from All City Distribution out in NY, Sentury Sam, Shmu, my photographer David Wilder, Jesse from HipHopCanada, and of course the lovely Lola for the interview and all that. Shout outs to all the fans worldwide who've been showing me love and support and everybody riding with the squad, Rambo and $nowman I see you out in LA. Can't forget NEM-S-ISS, Aristo, Drake, Set2 and all the rappers showing me love. Free Don Million, Free Onie, Free Speedy. COUNT MONEY ALL MUTHAFUCKIN' DAY!

Photos by: David Wilder of David Wilder Productions - http://www.myspace.com/dwproductionsinc

Editor's note: For more information on Richie Sosa you can visit his website at http://www.richiesosa.com or his MySpace profile at http://www.myspace.com/richiesosa.