When J. Ahmir “Ricky” Vines was in elementary school, growing up with a single mom, he would get in trouble with his teachers for scribbling lyrics during class. Eventually, realizing that his lyrical prowess could earn him some extra money, he began selling lyrics to local rappers in his town and stashing the extra cash in a shoebox.

“There’s a big underground music culture in North Carolina,” says the Winston-Salem native. “I would sell these lyrics to these older kids and these young rapper guys around the city.”

He wrote under the name Ricky, a gender-neutral name, back then so that no one would know if the lyrics had been written by a boy or girl. When he heard his rhymes being used in rap battles around town, he knew that his lyrics were hitting.

Twenty-odd years later, the rapper/singer is still compulsively jotting down words wherever he goes — but now they’re for his own music, which he releases under the moniker 2AM Ricky. With an eclectic slate of influences, 2AM Ricky’s work flits seamlessly between brass-accented soulful pop (“I Wanna Be Myself”), trap-tinged hip-hop (“Trouble”), nocturnal R&B jams (“Cream”), and woozy downtempo rap in the vein of Earl Sweatshirt or Freddie Gibbs (“Laura”).

As a lyricist, 2AM Ricky can do gritty storytelling, as on “10th Street,” a melancholy highlight from his 2023 album Listen If You’re Lonely, and seductive smooth-talk, as on “Nookie” (not a Limp Bizkit cover). But he’s also adept with the kind of tongue-twisting braggadocio rhymes that made those rap battles pop. On “Trouble,” he rhymes, “Pretty women gettin’ frisky with them girls in the mirror/And I’m slicker than a pimp who got the freshest of linens.” His influences span from classic greats like Rick James and Little Richard to Gen-Z trailblazers like Doechii.

Read Next

Michael Urie Puts Queer Stories Center Stage with Pride Plays

“I listen to a lot of older artists, like Little Richard, who really became the characters they were onstage,” Ricky notes. “Their personalities is what made their music come to life.”

More recently, with his 2024 hit “Move,” an indelibly funky collaboration with the singer GODZENA, Ricky broke boundaries, becoming the first Black, openly trans male artist to make the top 10 of any recording chart. (The song debuted at No. 12 and peaked at No. 3 on the iTunes Electronic Charts.) The track was accompanied by a music video inspired by one of Ricky’s favorite films, Spike Lee’s semi-autobiographical Crooklyn.

“‘Move’ is one of my favorite records that I’ve created,” says Ricky, who is now based in Atlanta. “It was something that I wanted to just feel good, feel free, feel myself, and allow my listeners to feel the same. And I think it’s something that makes you move, literally and physically. With ‘Move,’ I wanted to think about the good old days of partying with your friends, partying with your homies.”

Though Ricky’s songwriting tends to summon an upbeat spirit — not unlike that of his influence Pharrell Williams — his musical career has roots in tragedy. In 2015, his best friend, Hesakahi McCoy, was found dead on the campus of their school, North Carolina Central University. The death was initially ruled a suicide, but Ricky and others who knew McCoy believe he was murdered.

While grieving his friend’s death, Ricky wrote and recorded his debut mixtape, Hiatus, using songwriting as a vehicle to tell McCoy’s story, as well as to build visibility around the case and seek justice for his friend. The mixtape, which incorporated recordings of McCoy’s voice, became a turning point for Ricky — if he wasn’t already committed to giving music his all, now he was all in.

Read Next

Scott Thompson Rips Into GLAAD in Blistering New Show

“[Hiatus] helped me to understand the power of my voice when it comes to music, which is what got me here and made me want to continue,” Ricky reflects nearly a decade later. “It helped me process the trauma of my friend’s death, but it also helped me with taking a deeper dive into my own mental health journey.”

During that same period, the singer came out as trans and began his transition. He took the name Ricky, inspired by his childhood lyric-writing exploits, and felt a new sense of certainty in his identity. He knew he had made the right decision when, after transitioning, he headlined the SpringBoard Music Festival in Houston. A young trans kid came up to Ricky after his performance and said, “I’ve never seen anyone who looks like me come into those spaces.” He felt encouraged to keep going.

“It’s an interesting journey being transmasculine,” the singer says. “When you think about trans-identified bodies, a lot of times people don’t think of someone who looks like me; they don’t think of female-to-male. Especially in urban music, which is a predominantly masculine field, or generally has been, now women are taking over. There are so many different nuances I have to navigate that people don’t think about. There’s no one box that I fit into.”

Has the hip-hop community been accepting of his trans identity? “It’s been interesting,” says Ricky. “A lot of my career wins are built off of being the first because there’s no other transmasculine rapper navigating spaces with me. So, coming into a room and people saying, ‘You’re the first Black trans man on the top music charts’ might get applause in one space but also could bring harm in another. It’s been having to discern when and where those spaces are safe.”

Read Next

Brooke Eden Brings Queer Country to WorldPride DC

None of this has slowed Ricky’s prolific drive. In 2021, his single “Watchu On,” featuring CeCe Peniston, made him the first Black trans male artist to land at No. 1 on any music chart. And in 2023, he released two albums back to back: Listen If You’re Lonely, a collection of brooding rap songs about mental health, relationships, and sex, and I Wanna Be Myself, which takes a more soul-driven, pop direction.

He’s already completed another album, Don’t Forget to Call, due out this fall. “The album was built around the thesis that, in order to be successful, sometimes something in us has to die, and sometimes it’s ourselves,” Ricky says. “I think older fans will appreciate it, because it gets back to a lot of the rawness of the lyrics.”

Oh, and his stage name, 2AM Ricky? That’s inspired by a quote from his late grandmother, who raised the artist.

“She used to say, ‘The only thing open at 2 a.m. is minds and legs,'” Ricky laughs. “So when people experience me, I either want to open up your mind and make you think or I want to open up your legs and make you move.”

2AM Ricky performs on Sunday, June 8, at the WorldPride Street Festival + Concert on the Capitol Stage, 3rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW at approximately 2:40 p.m. The event is free. Visit www.worldpridedc.org.

A VIP Experience Ticket, including access to an expanded VIP section with front-of-stage viewing, lounge, private restrooms, and bars with complimentary or discounted food and drink, is available. For pricing and availability, visit www.tickets.capitalpride.org.

Visit www.2amricky.com.

This article originally appeared in The Official 2025 WorldPride Guide co-produced by the Capital Pride Alliance and Metro Weekly. To read full the WorldPride Guide, click here.