Rising Stars: Meet Ricky Belfort of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky Belfort.

Hi Ricky, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up between two worlds. My family is Haitian, I was born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, and I was raised in Wyandanch, Long Island. My older brother Ron is the reason I fell in love with music, even though he never pursued it himself. Whatever he was listening to, I was listening to. We had a channel called The Box that played all kinds of music videos, from the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls to Mase and Puff Daddy, and I soaked all of it in. By eight I was teaching myself piano. When I was twelve and Ron was away at Navy boot camp, I borrowed his CD collection without asking: Mariah Carey’s Butterfly, Nas’s God’s Son, Bad Boy’s No Way Out. That’s where my love for Hip-Hop/R&B really took hold.

At fourteen, I remade The Game and 50 Cent’s “How We Do” on a friend’s keyboard, and that’s when I knew I could make beats. I didn’t know what a DAW was yet, so I plugged my little Casio into the family PC and recorded beats that way with Sound Recorder. Not long after, I found FL Studio. I also made a lot of remixes early on, building beats under acapellas to teach myself arrangement, and I posted them on MySpace. Over time, in my late 20’s that turned into some opportunities behind the scenes. I landed sync placements and production work across TV, film, and sports, including Disney, Nickelodeon, CBS, WWE, and the XFL, and I worked with artists like Iamsu, DJ.Fresh, and adding talk box for artist like Wolftyla, Gyptian, Teejay, Alan Cave, Tek of Smif-N-Wesson, and more . I’m grateful for all of it, but I always knew there was a sound in me that was my own.

In my early twenties, electronic music found me before I even knew what to call it. It started with Calvin Harris and Disclosure. When I saw “We Found Love,” Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, it clicked that a producer could be the name out front, and that changed how I saw myself. A few years later, Disclosure’s “Latch” with Sam Smith hit me so hard I went out and bought the physical album (Settle). From there I went deeper. Friends put me onto Jarreau Vandal and Shakka, which led me to his Lost Boys project, and I found Galimatias and Alina Baraz’s Urban Flora, Lido, Cashmere Cat, and Masego and Medasin’s Pink Polo, mostly through SoundCloud. I started folding electronic elements into my production, even though people mostly saw me as an R&B crossover-pop producer. I had the sound before I had the language for it.

That sound started reaching people when a remix went viral on TikTok in 2020, and again in 2024 with “Ascension,” my take on Maxwell’s song. It’s now past 800,000 streams on Spotify, and radio stations from London to Cape Town to Martinique started playing it without me ever reaching out. That told me people were connecting with what I was doing on my own terms.

In December 2024 I moved to Los Angeles to lean into being an artist fully. Since then I’ve spun for MNRK during BET weekend (2025, 2026) and played sets with R&B Only, Club Cyber, and Train of Thought. I also host my own live show, The Rotation, at The Love Song Bar. I’m fully independent, and right now I’m finishing a five-song EP.

At the core of what I do is a simple idea: hip-hop and electronic music come from the same place, which is disco. I’m not blending them. I’m bringing them back together. Growing up in church taught me how to mash songs together and move a room, and that’s still how I approach every set and every record. Soulful house, global rhythms, R&B with an electronic foundation: it’s all one family to me, and I’m just trying to remind people of that.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. Early on, money was tight. My mom couldn’t afford piano lessons for me, so I taught myself by ear off the radio and figured out production the same way, with whatever equipment I could get my hands on.

The hardest point came in 2019. I was landing my first placements, and at the same time I was homeless. From the outside it looked like things were taking off, but behind the scenes I was just trying to stay afloat. That season forced me to focus on building my own value, as an artist and as a person. I couldn’t control everything around me, but I could keep sharpening my craft and showing up, the Lord’s guidance, and that mindset is a big part of why I’m still here doing this.

I’m also naturally introverted. I actually started DJing in middle school, but I kept running from it because of that idea that a DJ can be the life or death of the party. That pressure terrified me. The funny part is that the artists I looked up to, the ones whose path I wanted to follow, all DJ their own music. So I was in this strange place where the thing I was avoiding was the very thing my artistry needed. Embracing it has come full circle for me.

I’ve also learned that creativity has its own timing. Everyone has their own lives and priorities, and great music can’t be rushed, so I’ve learned to stay patient while still building and releasing work in the meantime. Moving across the country from New York to Los Angeles was another leap of faith, starting over in a new city and building my community from scratch. Every one of those struggles taught me patience, trust in the process, and trust God’s timing.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a producer, DJ, and musician, and my lane is soulful house, Alt R&B, and global rhythms, with R&B at the center. I’m known for music that feels warm, the kind of house music that fits golden hour, a rooftop, or the first warm day of the year. My approach comes from being a composer first. I treat vocal chops like melodic instruments, hitting the hooks and drops the way a singer would, and I build everything on hip-hop and R&B drums and bass, with a little funk mixed in. People also know me for my remixes and flips, like “Ascension,” my version of Maxwell’s song, which I see as my own take on a classic rather than just a cover.

One of the things I’m most proud of is being recognized for high-vibrational music, music that makes people feel good, and the fact that so many people found me organically.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I’m always looking for featured vocalists and songwriters. Some of my favorite records come from someone bringing their voice and story to a track, and I love building music that gives a vocalist room to shine. If you’re a singer or writer who connects with soulful, feel-good music, I’d love to hear from you. For bookings, I’m open to brand activations and anywhere the music and the culture meet, and I’m always excited to bring my sound to new cities.

The best way to support me is to stream the music, share it with someone who needs a good vibe, and come out to a show. Seeing people in the room means everything. You can also join my email list through the link in my bio for new music, remixes, and upcoming dates. Follow me on Instagram and TikTok at @rickybelfort to stay connected, and reach out there or through booking@rickybelfort.com for bookings and collaborations.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rickybelfort/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rickybelfort
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcARj_cmlH9iK9cLPUvhT5Q
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/rickybelfort