RJ DA FOOL.
THE SOUND OF A CITY.
Before a sound becomes a city’s soundtrack, somebody has to make it. A look at the Cleveland producer whose work helped define an era—and why his story deserves to be heard.
If you’re from Ohio, you know the songs. You know the sound. But knowing the music isn’t always the same as knowing the person who helped create it.
For a generation of Cleveland listeners, certain records aren’t just songs. They’re memories of where they grew up, the people they grew up with, and the moments that made their city feel like the center of the world. RJ Da Fool is part of that story.
A producer, artist, father, and philanthropist, RJ emerged from Cleveland’s music scene at a young age. His story includes early industry attention, a connection to Dream Life Records, and work associated with names including Drake and Rich Boy. But a list of credits alone doesn’t explain the impact of music that became part of everyday life back home.
Before the records, there was Cleveland.
Cleveland has never been short on talent. What hasn’t always followed is the national attention, documentation, or infrastructure to match it. For artists and producers who helped build the city’s musical identity, that gap can mean the public knows the songs long before it knows the names behind them.
RJ’s career reaches back to his teenage years. His early experiences in music, the people who believed in him, and the relationships formed along the way all shaped the records listeners came to recognize. Those are the details that can get lost when a career is reduced to a ranking, a social post, or a handful of highlights.
Records that still tell the story.
On the first installment of Good Company, Lee and Tony revisit seven records with RJ: Came Down, We Ballin, 4x White Tee, Truth Is, To the Floor, Bump Kick Drag, and Police by MGK.
Each track opens another part of the conversation: the early days of Cleveland music, the energy surrounding local anthems, the relationships behind major collaborations, and the more personal chapters of RJ’s life. The music isn’t just something to play between questions. It’s the thread connecting the memories.
Recognition isn’t the same as impact.
A recent conversation around a Cleveland producers ranking raised a bigger question: how do you measure somebody’s contribution to a culture? A list can spark debate, but it can’t hold the years of work, influence, personal sacrifice, and creative relationships that made the music possible.
That distinction matters to the people who lived through the era—and to the artists coming up next. If the stories behind the music aren’t preserved, the next generation inherits the sound without always knowing who helped build it.
Good Company brings it back home.
Lee and Tony, the Cleveland-rooted creators and hosts of We Could Be Wrong, launched Good Company as a space for the people they know, the people they admire, and the people whose stories more of the world should hear.
Now based in Los Angeles, they see the series as more than another interview format. It’s a way to reconnect with the creative community that shaped them, introduce its voices to a wider audience, and build a bridge toward future opportunities.
RJ Da Fool is the first guest. Rather than simply listing his achievements, the conversation gives him room to tell the stories behind the records, revisit the people and places that mattered, and speak about who he is today.
This isn’t about proving Cleveland had a sound. It’s about making sure the people who helped create it aren’t left out of the story.
GOOD COMPANY / 001 — RJ DA FOOL · A WE COULD BE WRONG ORIGINAL
Good Company: RJ Da Fool / 001
Watch the full Good Company conversation with RJ Da Fool, hosted by Lee and Tony of We Could Be Wrong.