Illinois-based photographer Ryan Lowry recently caught up with Rich Homie Quan when he stopped by Chicago for a show, just a couple weeks before Quan collapsed from heat exhaustion during a video shoot. Below, read what Lowry had to say about his day spent hanging with his favorite rapper and getting stoned in the back of a rental car.
The first time I heard Rich Homie Quan I was on assignment in Atlanta driving on back roads to the airport. I was listening to rap radio and “Type of Way” came on. It was when it was first starting to get radio play and I was driving in his hometown— it was this crazy, magical moment. I’ve been kind of obsessed with him ever since then. He’s a cool, female-positive rapper and just a good dude.
As soon as we got in Quan's rental car he was like, "Do you do drugs?" and he pulled out a blunt and we got high. Usually rappers front, and I remember he was totally natural and we got along really well. He kept on being like, “I fuck with you Ryan.” Quan’s a hardened guy, but he’s also in touch with his emotions and he’s open about that. I like the photos of him in the bedroom—they kind of mirror both of those things, like, here’s this cut dude with tattoos all over his body posing in really intimate ways. In my mind, it’s just pure Quan.