It was a damn shame that Rio Da Yung OG, one of Michigan trap’s most standout talents, missed much of the scene’s peak due to his nearly five year prison sentence. So many stars were made and classics dropped – not to mention how many others fell off – between 2021 and now, that it just felt unfair for the city’s best rapper to never be getting his due.
Thankfully, upon his release in late 2024, Rio proved that his punchline heavy style and work ethic were immune to falling off while in the can. He came out hot, dropping multiple albums throughout 2025 that could immediately be considered his best and capitalizing off the hype behind his release. If there was ever a complaint about him before, it was that he didn’t have any single, defining album, but he turned that narrative around with ease. Here, we’ll discuss some 2025 highlights for Rio Da Yung OG.
“I can freestyle a song in 2 minutes cause my brain different“
Singles and Features:
Rio Free / Something Happen
The expectations for a First Day Out song were high given Rio’s style and story, and he certainly lived up to it with “Rio Free”. The video shows him getting picked up off the plane, pulling straight up to the jeweler and seeing his family – “60 months in the feds, it wasn’t shit though”. Rio was hungry and picked up right where he left off.
In January, he dropped an album of the same name, and you could tell he had to just get these raps off after all this time. With no frills, this is 10 tracks of Rio barring out, detailing his time in prison and plans to take over. If that wasn’t enough, he followed it up immediately with a deluxe companion album Something Happen, featuring the single “4 Minutes of Hell” – a feat of rapping that not many in his lane could pull off.
Side note: It’s been a great year for First Day Outs, given Pooh Shiesty and HoneyKomb Brazy also dropped fire singles.
Listen to Rio Free (Something Happen) on Spotify
F.L.I.N.T. (Feeling Like I’m Not Through)
Is this one of hip-hop’s latest great backronyms?
Dropping only 8 months later, FLINT scratched the itch that Rio Free might have left some listeners, being full of local features like Veeze or YN Jay that we’ve been wanting to hear him properly collab with, and a more standard, hit-friendly writing style. Overall, it’s much more in line with what you expect to hear going into a Detroit trap album, reminiscent of his previous career highlight, City on My Back.
Listen to FLINT on Spotify
Olympic Shit Talking (with Bfb da Packman)
Dropping late in the year, Olympic Shit Talking with Bfb Da Packman seemed to go way under the radar. Coming off the 2024 collab of the same name, this tape clocks in at only 7 tracks, but they both make the most of every minute. Bfb had his moment, often leaning too far into comedy raps to make a bigger name for himself, but shows great chemistry with Rio on here. It brings out the most fun and lighthearted in Rio, while Bfb has some legit competition on the mic. Also featured is Babyfxce E, who may be poised as one of Detroit’s next stars after a critically acclaimed 2025.
Listen to Olympic Shit Talking on Spotify
I was going to conclude by saying Rio Da Yung OG is poised for another big year in 2026, simply based off his usual work rate, but he literally dropped again while I was writing this: an EP with San Diego artist KT Foreign.
So yeah, expect much more to come, hopefully including some collabs from across different different scenes; for example, his work with Drakeo was always special, and I was happy to see him working with Florida trap artists so much this year. Finally, there’s the elephant in the room: the inevitable Dumb and Dumber 4 with RMC Mike. If we got Step Brothers 4 Life from Starlito and Don Trip, we gotta get this.