Brian Imanuel (born September 3, 1999), known professionally as Rich Brian (previously Rich Chigga and Brian), is an Indonesian rapper, record producer, songwriter and comedian from Jakarta. He is best known for his viral debut single "Dat $tick", which was released in February 2016.
Video Brian Imanuel
Early life
Brian Imanuel was born on September 3, 1999, in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has four siblings. Imanuel was raised in West Jakarta in a middle-to-low class neighbourhood despite his father being a lawyer. He never had a formal education as he was homeschooled.
In 2010, while growing up in Indonesia, Imanuel began his career with social media, when he was 11 years old. He originally photoshopped images and posted them on Twitter, before eventually moving to making video content, including dark-comedy sketches on Twitter. Imanuel moved to the platform Vine when he was 15 and began to post daily videos there. He taught himself to speak English by watching YouTube videos and by listening to rappers like Childish Gambino, 2 Chainz, Macklemore and Tyler, The Creator.
Imanuel began listening to hip hop music in 2012 when an American friend he knew on the internet introduced him to Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" and Imanuel began to explore deeper into the genre, discovering Drake, 2 Chainz, Kanye West and Logic at first. Imanuel wrote his first rap song in 2014 and recorded it onto an iPhone microphone over a produced MF Doom instrumental.
Imanuel originally wanted to become a cinematographer in Los Angeles, giving up once his music career began taking off.
Maps Brian Imanuel
Career
2015-16: Career beginnings
Imanuel first released his debut track, titled "Living the Dream" on July 17, 2015, on his YouTube account. The song was produced by DJ Smokey. Imanuel then went on to release his debut single "Dat $tick" on February 22, 2016. The track caught international success after a reaction video was released, featuring American rappers Ghostface Killah, 21 Savage, Tory Lanez, MadeinTYO, Desiigner and many more. "Dat $tick" then went on to peak at number four on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles.
Imanuel then went on to release his second single titled "Who That Be" on iTunes on August 9, 2016. The song was produced by Sihk. He then released the remix of his single "Dat $tick" which features Ghostface Killah and Pouya.
Imanuel later released his third single "Seventeen" which quickly surpassed the one million hits mark on both YouTube and SoundCloud.
2017-present: Amen
Imanuel started his first U.S tour in April 2017, concluding in May. In May 2017, Imanuel released the single "Gospel" with XXXTentacion and Keith Ape. This was XXXTentacion's first collaboration with Imanuel and the song was released on 88rising. The single has 21 million views on YouTube as of October 2017.
Imanuel won an award at 4th Indonesian Choice Awards as Breakthrough Artist of the Year in May 2017. Imanuel announced his debut album in an interview with XXL, saying ""I'm working on a debut project and there are some serious songs and some comedic stuff, but the serious songs are my focus." In an interview, Imanuel said he was spending most of his stay in Los Angeles, California working on his debut album.
Imanuel dropped "Glow Like Dat" on August 15, 2017, on 88rising's YouTube channel. He then announced a nationwide tour starting on September 9 and concluding on November 21 titled "Come to My Party Tour".
Imanuel released "Chaos" in October 2017 and "Crisis" featuring 21 Savage in November 2017. On December 19, 2017, Imanuel announced on the social media platform, Twitter, that he was releasing his debut studio album, Amen on February 2, 2018.
On January 1, 2018, Imanuel released "See Me" on 88rising's YouTube channel under the name Brian. Later, on January 7, 2018, he changed his official name again to Rich Brian.
Musical style
Imanuel's musical style has been called "ironic" by UrbanDaddy though it "eventually transcends itself to become a legitimate piece of art." Imanuel's vocals have been described as baritone, and his delivery as "gruff yet agile" and "unique". His writing ability has been called "skilled" by HotNewHipHop. Imanuel, originally making comedic music, has since attempted to distance himself and make more serious music with singles such as 'Seventeen' and 'Glow like Dat'.
Imanuel has quoted Young Thug, Tyler, The Creator, Yung Lean and Childish Gambino as inspirations.
Personal life
Imanuel currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He is not a permanent resident of the United States; though in July 2017, he extended his stay.
Imanuel has only been in one relationship that was long-distance with a girl from Maryland in August 2015. The relationship lasted two months.
Imanuel's original stage name "Rich Chigga" has created controversy in the past. Talking about his stage name, Imanuel said "I do regret it -- I didn't really know what I was doing and I definitely did not know people were gonna pop off like this" As a result, he began to be professionally known by Rich Brian, from 2018 onwards.
Imanuel was homeschooled and has stated that he does not wish to seek college education, though if given the chance, he would attend film school.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Guest appearances
Concert tours
Headlining
- Come To My Party Tour (2017)
Co-headlining
- 88Rising Asia Tour (with Higher Brothers and Joji) (2017)
References
External links
- Rich Brian's SoundCloud
- Rich Brian's Twitter
Source of article : Wikipedia
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