Held at gunpoint with thieves rummaging through their house, Richie experienced a world where people are harsh. His newborn sister's life was threatened and his father's life was endangered by thieves who believed that his father being a Pastor, would have much wealth. They were mistaken for they only left with his parents' wedding rings. That night Richie saw the world through the eyes of a seven-year-old. In one night he saw fear, terror, tears, and God's faithfulness. Little did he know that bullets in various forms, whether they be criticisms, loss of a relatives, disappointment, etc, would pass his way, but would miss him because of Jesus Christ.

Richard Mohammed Ishmael was born a Pastor's son in the country of Guyana, South America. His dad was the Pastor of a church called Eccles assembly of God.
At around age 11 Richie and his family migrated to the United States where they settled in Queens NY. There Richie quickly fell in love with the hip hop culture which was rapidly growing in America.

Typical of teenagers, Richie began to feel that he knew everything and his father and him grew apart. And when Richie and his dad finally began to develop a relationship his father died in front of him. During this time Richie went through a time of sorrow and questioning. His faith in Christ took a strong blow; He was doing music but it was not "real" to him. He, during this time eventually went on to get a girl pregnant out of wedlock. Now he was faced with the decision of whether or not he should abort his unborn child. Concerns, fears and thoughts ran though his head: he was in the church and a known artist locally; how could he go about telling people that he got a girl pregnant?

The choice of abortion seemed to be the best one but then God stepped in and said "Enough". God and Richie made an agreement that if he kept the baby, God would take care of the child. Richie from then on became Righteous and kept the child. Today his son, Sehven, is three years old and Richie is happily married to his son's mother, Sherry-ann Ishmael aka Lady Righteous. Today him, his wife, his son and newly born daughter minister the gospel wherever they go as a family. God has brought this Richie a long way and will continue to.

Today Richie Righteous is an MC who simply spits for the great- "I AM" and un-relentlessly tells what's "the real". His music transcends what's "normal", or "religiously accepted", he spits for Christ and Christ alone with no compromise. He has started a label known as Righteous Entertainment, whose goal is to "Flood the Market with the Gospel", a vision to take back music for Christ and flood the music industry and the world with the Gospel of Christ.