A Review of Rich Chigga, Now Rich Brian's, Confident Project "Amen"

By Andreas Fanos on February 20, 2018

I don’t need no education, internet’s my favorite teacher.

Technology can be used to create or destroy, to better an individual or corrupt. Anyone can learn anything by scanning the web and putting in the effort to learn and that is what an artist named Rich Brian did. His old name used to be Rich Chigga, a racial joke, and it had been a mistake from when he was young and a comedian.

Rapper Rich Brian dropped his debut album labeled “Amen,” on February 2 and it was truly impressive coming from an 18-year-old kid out of Indonesia. In an article from “The Outline” written by Ann-Derrick Gaillot, it contains a quote on his old name and an apology for using it saying, “I was naive and I made a mistake.” People can understand why he feels that way since the old name could offend others, but he has grown up now.

And the funny thing is that Brian Imanuel learned how to rap and speak English from YouTube, as stated in the article as well. It’s obvious that he has done his research on good rappers and taken good notes. He uses ad-libs that typical rappers use like “ayy” that show his nice flow. The article states on his rise to fame that “my first introduction to Rich Brian was through the 2016 viral video for his song ‘Dat $tick,’ in which the then-16-year-old and his friends dab while wearing Khaki shorts and polo shirts.” It was an interesting video that currently has 86 million views.

Cover of “Amen,” via Apple Music taken by Andreas Fanos.

The album has its weak points with some corny lyrics and out-of-sync songs where Brian tries to sing. Corny lyrics like “I’m a rapper but my name isn’t Chance,” and “Now I’m getting old, and my di** is gettin older,” on opener song “Amen.” These corny lines ruin the project slightly but not enough. Also, he could have added more struggles that he had to go through and more of his journey along the way. He raps about it but only with a sprinkling of memories.

However, the strengths outnumber the weaknesses behind the main core of confidence. And there is no question that the kid can rap. The production on this tape is also in its entirety amazing with Brian producing some of the beats. There are some great lines in this album that help it stick out and some terrific features with Migos member Offset on highlight track and best song “Attention,” and Joji on song “Introvert.” In my opinion, the other tracks that stood out to me were opener “Amen,” “Occupied,” “Cold,” “Trespass,” “Kitty,” and “Chaos.” I really enjoyed this project and I can see that the Indonesian rapper has become a nice artist.

He starts with stating his humble beginnings on the title track “Amen,” stating, “Damn homeschool felt like yesterday I worked at my mom’s cafe.” Brian was home-schooled and learned a lot from the internet, which shows that anyone can do anything. He was just working at his mom’s cafe and now he’s famous.

There are some great lyrics in many tracks with relatability starting from the second song  “Cold,”  where he says, “Callin’ my dad when I wanna hear some wisdom, callin my cab alc0hol in my system. Man, I never been the one to be alone.” The song shows his nice flow and again relatability that anyone can take part in.

He states more humbleness behind a rumbling beat on one of my favorite songs “Occupied.” He says some powerful lines with a nice flow saying, “I don’t need to flex to tell the people where I’m at (Aye), Who I’m with or who I’m seeing later where I went (Aye), I can turn your girl to mine in just a second, Red and White, born and raised, took a flight, to LA.” He raps some powerful lyrics that fit the beat of the track perfectly with brilliance.

There are some sentimental lyrics on next track “Introvert” where Brian raps, “Every time I go closer to the road leaving my light I just wanna know, why I’m feeling so lonely at night. Sittin in my crib thinkin bout sh** that I never done but wish I did acting like I’m fine but I’m losing it.” Featured artist Joji matches with a powerful line “Hole in my soul, don’t know how to fill it up cannot let nobody in.

via Pexels.com

In track “Attention,” both Offset and Rich Brian flex over a hypnotic beat with Brian pulling in a strong chorus saying, “Pull a mil’ in a day ain’t even have the good*** bill on your pill, everyday I just be sippin chamomile. Like my dad, I’m the man Don’t wanna see me mad.” Offset trades a good verse, though not his best of all, saying, “Diamonds on my wrist got her attention, I am a martian I am not from this dimension.” Both have solid chemistry and pull the track to an entertaining finish.

Rich Brian states more interesting lines on song “Flight” saying, “Flame low key on the top of the dictionaries. Homeschool kid never knew he was a prodigy.” On “Enemies” he’s reflective stating some clever lines saying, “Got one thousand keys. My dad is a lawyer, he would tell me bout his days at work. That one time he thought his partner tryna get fu*** murk. Last time that I saw you, I gave you a lesson to be learned. Sit down, do your homework, I’ma count my blessings like a clerk.” It shows that any professional profession can be in danger.

The song “Kitty,” has to be the most interesting song on the whole project because of it describing an awkward situation across a fast-paced beat about Brian losing his virginity to a girl, but getting caught in the process by her mother and it being his friend’s sister. On “Chaos” the rapper booms with confidence stating, “Mommy, daddy home. I barely see them like a rainbow, you can’t get rid of me I ain’t going nowhere.” And Lonzo Ball’s father LaVar is even shouted out in the track.

And don’t forget, there is a diverse selection of music out now with young pop singer Madison Beer’s project named “As She Pleases,” Justin Timberlake’s “Man of the Woods,” Migos’s “Culture II,” and “Black Panther: The Album.” Other recent releases include those from rapper Kodak Black, Moneybagg Yo, Nipsey Hussle, and even Los Angeles Laker’s point guard Lonzo Ball’s debut mixtape “Born 2 Ball.” And on top of all this, a short EP from 2 Chainz.

Despite all of that, I believe that Rich Brian has a lot of potential to grow in the rap game. He brings something different to the game being an Asian rapper. Even more than that, his voice inflection is good for the genre. It would be interesting to see if he could grow to rap over other beats than trap because what he excels at is rapping over trap. Overall, “Amen” is a decent project that brings a lot of potential and promise from a debut project. Rich Brian; keep going.

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