Follow Me Page 12

  CHALLENGE

  #PARENTPRESENTFORRICKY

  There’s an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians where the kids put together a whole music video for Kris on her birthday to show their love. In that spirit I want you to do some sort of creative project for your own mom/dad/guardian, to show your appreciation for all they do. It can be a poster, a video message, a handpicked bouquet, whatever you want.

  CHALLENGE

  #DRIVETHRUFORRICKY

  Get a friend to film you ordering something that’s not on the menu at a fast-food drive-thru, and insist that they do have it.

  MUSIC

  After my EP came out and I decided I wanted to keep on recording music, Trevor Moran hooked me up with a producer he’d worked with before named Bobby J Frausto. I’m eternally grateful and bow down to you, Trevor, for introducing us.

  I’d already recorded a few songs with one production team but I like mixing things up, and from the first day that I started recording with Bobby J, I knew he was the one I wanted to stick with.

  For starters, he helped me so much with my voice. He worked with me until we found a tone and range that really suit me. Up until that point I was still experimenting with my voice and trying to find out what my vocal niche was. Even though I’d been singing for two years I could still get really nervous about it, and he was the first producer I’d collaborated with who took the time to sit down and really listen to what works best for me in terms of singing. Not that I’m saying my other producers weren’t great, too, it’s just that Bobby J really took me under his wing to help me define my sound.

  His studio is in his house, which is a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, almost all the way to San Diego. Every trip was worth it. For one thing, I had plenty of time to warm up my voice each time I went because I’d sing in the car! His place is kind of like a mini mansion that he lives in with his business partner, Steve (who is also an incredible producer and sound engineer and worked on some of my songs with Bobby). Their place is out in the middle of nowhere so everything is very quiet and serene, with views of rolling hills that seem to go on forever. When we first started working together, we’d spend whole days just hanging out, writing lyrics, and coming up with new sounds. Some days we wouldn’t even do that much—we’d just brainstorm concepts. I bonded and meshed so well with him. I never felt like I was working; it was always fun.

  Once we got down to actually recording, he wouldn’t just stick me in the recording booth and let me go at it. We’d sit down and practice each song, and he’d give me all sorts of advice about the best way to deliver certain words or notes. Then we’d do a demo version and listen to it together, picking out all the places that could use improvement or minor tweaking. By the time Bobby J and I finally got around to actually recording, the song would go so smoothly because we’d put in so much prep work beforehand. It was the same level of dedication that I always got from my music video director Andrew Vallentine.

  Originally I thought I was just recording another EP, but Bobby J and I worked so well and so long together that before I knew it I had eight songs written. So I decided to come up with two more and release a full album.

  When we were working on the last song, “Problematic,” Bobby J suddenly had the brilliant idea that it should have a rap feature. I was immediately into it. He has worked with major people like Ne-Yo, Wiz Khalifa, and Snoop Dogg, and he thought Snoop would be perfect for the job.

  Bobby J reached out to Snoop and his team, and I couldn’t believe it when he agreed to do it! He said that he loved the song and was really into YouTube, so it was a perfect fit. I got to meet him on the night we went to his studio to record his part, and he was so humble and nice. When we shot the video not long after, he showed up with a whole crew, but all of them were super chill, too. Since he’s a big celeb he totally could have acted like a diva on set, but nothing could be further from the truth. He was a total professional and sweet. We shot his bit in Crenshaw outside the Uneek Socks shop. (He has a really cool line with them and you should check them out!)

  When I released my first EP, things that were out of my control kept setting our deadline further and further back, and eventually I got so tired of waiting that I rushed through it a little too much just to get the music out. With this album, I know I’ve taken the time to give each song the love that it deserves. I started making my song “Gold” all the way back in April 2015 and didn’t wrap that track up until November! I think it’s really important to give any creative project you take on room to breathe. If you feel rushed, your brain is going to seize up and panic and you won’t get your best work done. (Unless you’re one of those people who thrive under pressure and deadlines. If that’s your jam, then by all means, go ahead and slack off!)

  For me, though, I know how lucky I am to have the freedom to take my time to do a project the way I want it to be done, and I’m seriously blessed to be surrounded by so many creative people who have helped me achieve my goals.

  If you have some sort of artistic project that you’re working on, don’t ever be afraid to ask for help with it if you get stuck on something. Sometimes even just talking out loud about a problem you’re having will cause a brilliant solution to pop into your head. If there are people you admire in your school and you think they could teach you a thing or two about acting or photography or film or whatever, don’t be afraid to approach them and ask for advice. Chances are they will be flattered—everyone likes to be told they’re good at something. If you’re into music as much as I am and want to record a song, you don’t even need to search out a mentor. All you have to do is download some music production software like GarageBand or Stagelight and produce it yourself! It’s easier than ever these days to mix your own music. In fact, the same goes for all the mediums I just listed above. There’s a program for almost any creative project that will answer many questions and teach you new things.

  CHALLENGE

  #WRITEASONGFORRICKY

  Write a song! It can be serious or silly, long or short, rhyme or not, whatever you want. (See what I did there?) If you’re a singer, record yourself singing it. If you’re not or are just feeling shy, then either get a friend to, or simply read the lyrics out loud.

  CHALLENGE

  #STOPMOTIONFORRICKY

  I used to love making stop-motion videos when I was just starting out on YouTube. Make one of your own, using either your body or objects or both!

  HEALTH

  When I used to play tennis, I had a whole team and a coach who motivated me to work out. Once I moved to L.A., I was pretty much on my own at the gym. I knew that there were things I wanted to change and learn about my body, so once I was settled in at the O2L house in Encino, I hired my very first personal trainer.

  His name was Sammy, and he worked at the gym I belonged to, L.A. Fitness. I mean it in the nicest way possible when I say that Sammy is a total ball buster. His motivation method was to be . . . how do I say this. Not quite mean, but almost. Let’s go with very tough, but in a good way. He pushed me in a way that I needed to be pushed at a time when I was really into making some big changes to my body in terms of gaining muscle. He taught me about endurance and testing my limits, but not to the point where I might hurt myself. He could always tell when I hit my wall and would pull back.

  If you want to get a good sense of just how terrifying, I mean, motivating, Sammy can be, check out a video on Kian and Jc’s channel called “House Robbery Prank.” They got Sammy to dress up all in black and cover his face with a bandana and a hoodie and pretend to be a house invader. I thought we were all about to be murdered, although now I understand why the guy kept screaming “Turn around!” every time I tried to crane my neck. Sammy didn’t want me to get a look at him and figure the whole thing out. If you watch it until the end after the prank is revealed, you can also get a glimpse of Sammy’s arms. Dude is a beast, and you’ll be able to tell why I knew as soon as I met him that he was the right guy to whip me into shape.

 
After we moved to the Hollywood Hills, Encino was too far away for me to drive and meet with Sammy every day. I joined a 24-Hour Fitness closer to our new place, so I asked for one of their in-house guys and that’s how I met Matt.

  Matt’s specialty was food. He’s the one who taught me how important nutrition is to a workout. He told me what I should or shouldn’t eat before running or lifting in order to get the maximum benefit from our bodywork. He’s the one who taught me the trick about how if you’re going to eat carbs you should do it in the morning so you have the rest of the day to burn them off. He was always going on about how bad preservatives are for your body. Initially I thought a lot of what he was telling me was common knowledge that I already understood from health class back in elementary school, but he always took the time to explain the reasons why a certain food was either good or bad for me, and how it could specifically affect my body or mood. It wasn’t long before I realized that all of my eating habits had changed for the better, and it was all because of his influence. I had more energy all of the time, my skin had never looked better, and I found that I could work out for much longer than ever before. Because of Matt, my stamina went through the roof.

  When I moved to Venice I once again lost the convenient proximity to my trainer. By that time, though, I felt comfortable enough to take everything Sammy and Matt had taught me and go it alone. I still saw Matt every now and then, but I missed having a regular partner. One year at Playlist Live I met a guy named Justin, who was roommates with Scott and Mitch from the a cappella group Pentatonix. (Scott and Mitch also have their own YouTube channel called Superfruit.)

  Justin looked really good. He basically had the body I wanted, so I asked him for some fitness tips. It turned out that he lives kind of near me so we started hitting the gym together as workout buddies, and he ended up teaching me many little things I hadn’t learned from the other guys about form. He explained all these techniques that were new to me, ones that target even the most random little muscle to help really build and sculpt definition. He showed me things I never would have thought of, and I’ve grown much stronger since I met him.

  I’m so grateful to each of these guys. I’m happy with the way I look and I owe so much of it to them. All three are super fit, and each had his own individual ways of getting to that point. I got the best of all their combined ideas and have been able to create workouts that pull the maximum benefit from each of their strengths. They’re like the Power Rangers if there were only three of them, and when you combine their powers, you get a Mega Ricky!

  Ugh, that’s a terrible metaphor. How about I leave it at this: I’m grateful to Sammy, Matt, and Justin because each showed me how to push myself and discover everything I’m capable of doing with my body. None of them ever held back with me, which is the sign of a great teacher. I only hope that I can inspire some people to live healthier and happier lives through fitness in the same way these guys inspired me.

  CHALLENGE

  #TRAINFORRICKY

  Sharing is caring—reach out to someone in your life who really knows fitness and ask him or her to teach you something new about working out. It can be a friend, gym teacher, an actual trainer, anyone! The important thing is to not be scared to ask for advice.

  CHALLENGE

  #PLANKFORRICKY

  Remember planking? Bring that back—it’s great for your abs! Do it in a crazy place or a public spot.

  RANDOM

  Sometimes it’s still hard for me to believe I have an album out. I put so much thought and effort into it, and I want to share a bit of that process with you. So here are the real meanings behind each of the songs, along with my favorite lyrics!

  “Home Sweet Home”

  This song is all about the feeling I get whenever I go back to my hometown. Walking down the streets and remembering who I used to be and how far I’ve come is so humbling. I made the lyrics broad enough though that I hope it will appeal to anyone who misses the good old days.

  Favorite lines: “Looking out into the stars and moon, wishing now that I’ll be coming home to you.”

  “Don’t Want to Fall in Love”

  Like I said earlier, I love being single. In the future, I might want to settle down and have a family, but right now I’m not looking for a relationship or love. If I find it, cool. But this is an anthem about being single and celebrating yourself.

  Favorite lines: “Date you if I could, wishing that I would. Single is the way to go.”

  “Problematic”

  I wanted to make a fun, sassy song—a different sort of clubby track about having a really fun night and not worrying about the world. Like causing a total ruckus, without getting too crazy.

  Favorite lines: “Lookin’ at ya in my ride, yeah you endorse it.”

  “Fight and Battle”

  Most of the songs on Gold are pretty upbeat and carefree. This one is extra special to me because it’s one of the most personal. I open up more than I ever have before, and talk about the insecurities I’ve had all my life and about all of the internal battles with myself trying to fight them off.

  Favorite line: “Today I’m stronger from the pain of yesterday.”

  “Lottery”

  The very first song I made for the album! It’s about that first feeling you get when you realize you have a crush on someone, that beautiful and scary butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling.

  Favorite lines: “Is this paradise? What Heaven feels like? Had you in my sights when you fell from the sky.”

  “Steal the Show,” with Trevor Moran

  We wrote this together, since any time we’re together we try to grab all of the attention in the room! I think the video we shot for it gets the point across pretty well.

  Favorite lines: “Everywhere they hearin’ us and everywhere they feelin’ us. Now let’s go, now you know, this is how we steal the show.”

  “Gold”

  After being bullied in high school for things like my speech impediment, it’s still amazing to me that my life is and career are gold now, and this song celebrates overcoming those difficulties.

  Favorite lines: “Now it’s time to set myself free, letting go of it all to experience me.”

  “Got Your Back,” with Shelby Waddell

  There’s nothing better than a best-friend anthem, and Shelby and I came up with this one together after writing down all of the stories and special memories we have about each other. We made sure that it’s also a song for anyone’s BFF!

  Favorite lines: “Together through it all, no one can compete with that, just know I always got your back.”

  “Ordinary,” acoustic version

  Since “Ordinary” was my very first song, I wanted an opportunity to show my growth as a songwriter and vocalist. I stripped it way down and added a bridge to the lyrics, which it didn’t have before.

  Favorite lines: “I don’t care if I stand out, it’s what life is all about.”

  “Never Ending Runs,” Cesar remix

  I always felt like the original version of this song was missing something. Like, it kept building up, but never went anywhere. So I got my friend Cesar to remix it with an EDM drop. Fun fact: The guy who originally wrote this song is the same guy who did “Replay” for Zendaya.

  Favorite lines: “We’re here, we’re free and we’re young, living life our way.”

  CHALLENGE

  #HAIKUFORRICKY

  Write a haiku using only words lifted from my favorite song lyrics! Remember—a haiku is just three lines. Five syllables in the first, seven in the second, and five again in the last. Here, I’ll show you how easy it is!

  Through it all stronger

  Know what life is all about

  Set myself free now

  CHALLENGE

  #SHIRTDESIGNFORRICKY

  Make a shirt! You can use either a blank T-shirt and decorate and/or draw on it with fabric markers, or if you know how to sew, come up with something completely new!

  SOCIAL

 
When I first started my YouTube channel in high school, my entire goal was to entertain and make people laugh. Nothing there has changed.

  I didn’t have a whole lot of self-confidence back then. It’s not like I was a total loner—I definitely had several amazing friends whom I loved—but, aside from Shelby and Mason and my other close buddies, I didn’t really like to be around people. Not because people annoyed me, but because I was always scared of saying or doing the wrong thing. My social anxiety was pretty much paralyzing, and sometimes I wonder how many opportunities I missed in life when I was younger because of that.

  Since the very first day I started my channel, every single thumbs-up or sweet comment I’ve received has helped to raise me out of that place and to become a completely different person. I’ve become more confident, happier, and now have a much more positive outlook on life, all because of you! The people who watch my videos have changed my life in such a crazy deep, profound way that I feel like I could say “thank you” a trillion times and it would never be enough. You give me the motivation to keep going, the inspiration to come up with new ideas, and enough faith in myself to pull myself back up whenever something gets me down.