Rico Love

Richard Preston Butler Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Harlem, New York City. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.

Usher's 2004 song, "Throwback", was Butler's first major songwriting credit; its parent album, Confessions (2004), won Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. Butler's contributions to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce, Usher's Raymond v. Raymond (2009), and the latter album's single, "There Goes My Baby", each yielded Grammy Awards. He also co-wrote "Heart Attack" for Trey Songz, which received a nomination for the award. Throughout the decade, he was credited on commercially successful R&B singles including Usher's "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)", Nelly's "Just a Dream" and "Gone", and Beyoncé's "Sweet Dreams". He has worked with artists such as Kelly Rowland, Mario, Chris Brown, Alexandra Burke, Keri Hilson, Fergie, and Fantasia.

As a recording artist, Butler has released two studio albums: TTLO (2015) and Even Kings Die (2018); the former spawned the single "They Don't Know", which moderately entered the Billboard Hot 100. He founded the record label Division1 in 2010; it was first an imprint of Universal Motown, and later Interscope Records before becoming an independent label. Division1 has signed artists including Young Chris, Tiara Thomas, and Teairra Marí.