SongVault Artist Profile

Idris Ramadan Aquil (born December 13, 1978), better known by his stage name Ramadichi Dollars, is an American recording artist, record producer, composer, pianist, sole proprietor and administrator of music publishing company, Future Security Entertainment Music (ASCAP). He is signed as a recording artist with Bitter Harvest Entertainment, Inc., an independent urban record corporation, currently distributed by Tunecore.

Early Years

Born at Mercy Hospital, Rockville Centre, New York, Dollars was first introduced to music by his mother who often left her stereo going after leaving her residence in Long Beach, New York for work. Wherever music could be heard, young Ramadichi was often within earshot of the speaker. In 1982, his grandfather gave him an electric organ disposed of by the Long Beach Jewish community center, Young Israel. Fascinated by the instrument, Ramadichi played every other day until the electric organ finally shorted out in late 1984. Upon the mutual decision of his parents, young Ramadichi was moved from Long Beach to his paternal grandparents’ home in Hempstead, New York during summer 1985. In Hempstead, Ramadichi began taking piano instruction in summer of 1986 learning popular songs like”We Are The World”, major, minor and melodic scales, as well as simplified sonatinas by Muzio Clementi and Bela Bartok. He was abruptly stopped from his classical and popular piano studies, due to the sudden death of his piano instructor.

At age 8, he began to fully embrace the hip-hop music of the era, often staying awake into the wee hours of the morning while recording new songs from different radio programs onto cassette for future listening. According to his grandmother, Ramadichi received a brand new turntable of his own, as a incentive gift from his grandmother, to continue aspiring and achieving scholastic excellence. Spring 1987 found young Ramadichi tagging along with his uncle Claude “Coffee” Cave, composer and pianist of 1970’s funk ground, Mandrill to Platinum Island Recording Studios, formally located in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. It was at Platinum Island that he began attending mix sessions and learning the functionality of various recording studio equipment, in addition to studying piano theory. After recording several demo songs at his uncle Claude’s personal “project” studio, in addition to filming accompanying videos for junior high school projects; Ramadichi booked his first recording session in 1991 at Richmond Street Recording Studio in Huntington, New York, bringing along neighborhood friends/rappers: Rahsaan “Caesar Grandz” Midgette & Jamel Shands. The results of the session circulated throughout their neighborhood on duplicated cassettes.

Formative Years

Circa 1992, Ramadichi found himself taking piano lessons with a new instructor, Russell Brand; studying classical compositions from Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt; along with contemporary pop ballads by singer-songwriters such as Babyface, Stevie Wonder, fellow Long Island native: Mariah Carey and many others. Taking music quite seriously by 1995, Ramadichi was writing, producing and recording his own contemporary R&B music in conjunction with neighborhood singer: Xavier Phillips. In 1996, Ramadichi Dollars graduated St. Mary’s High School after which he spent three semestes at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York studying composition, audio engineering and music business. In 1998, Ramadichi left college and headed off to Washington D.C. to work at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Dissatisfied, he returned to New York in 1999 to continue his education at Hofstra University, while working several odd jobs including a stint at music instrument retailer, Sam Ash Music in 2001.

Career Years

In 2002, alongside on-air personality and disc jockey, “JD Faction”, Ramadichi Dollars co-hosted and promoted an electronic dance music show on 90.3 WUSB-FM in Stony Brook, New York entitled “Halcyon Radio”. The show featured music from artists such as The Chemical Brothers, Danny Tenaglia and . From 2003 until 2008, Ramadichi Dollars embarked on producing for multiple projects with individual “up and coming” artists from the New York metropolitan area & Ontario, Canada via Internet. In essence, putting together what would become his debut pop album, Ramadichi Dollars & Friends “Vol. 1: Greatest Hits - Paying Our Dues”. Currently, Ramadichi Dollars is in the studio assembling the next installment entitled “Vol. 2: Greatest Hits - More Dues To Pay”.