Richie Branson (born Marcus Brown II; November 18, 1985) is an American music producer, game designer, and nerdcore rapper from San Antonio, Texas.

In 2011, he signed a recording contract under a partnership between Jagore Music Group and TuTone Entertainment, an imprint owned by an executive at Universal Republic.

[1] Months after the release of his first commercial single "Jersey Shore Fist Pump", Branson decided to change directions as an artist and began making nerdcore hip-hop music.

Upon his return to his desk, he heard the game's main theme music and was inspired to make a hip-hop song based on it.

The Cold Republic gained Branson notoriety in the nerdcore community after receiving coverage from a variety of major gaming sites, including TheForce.Net, AOL's Joystiq, and IGN's The Jace Hall Show.

[3][4][5] San Antonio's Fox Network affiliate television station KABB filmed and aired a music video featuring Branson performing "Looking For A Group", a song from his Cold Republic EP.

Famed Gundam manga publisher TOKYOPOP featured Branson's gundam-inspired music multiple times on their official Facebook fansite and Twitter prior to and after the EP's release.

[21] In an interview with Whiskey Media's Anime Vice, Branson announced that he was working on a Gundam-based electronic dance music album titled "The Epyon Project.

[22] In April 2012, the San Antonio Express-News reported that, in addition to The Epyon Project, Branson is working on a Street Fighter-influenced playable video game mixtape titled Richie vs.

[32] In an interview, he stated his "intent was definitely to make the game as absurd and funny as possible, not to trivialize rape, but to use that humor as a motivation for people to continue to talk about the scandal.