Rich Brian

Rich Brian was rumored to be in a relationship in mid-2015. It was a long-distance relationship with a girl from Maryland, US.

Rich has made Los Angeles his second home, as he spends most of his time there.

He was dragged into controversy in the past for using the stage name “Rich Chigga,” as it had racial undertones. He changed his stage name later.

Rich Brian was born Brian Imanuel, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 3, 1999. His father was a lawyer. They also ran a family restaurant. His parents have their roots in China. Rich grew up with three other siblings. Despite the family having sufficient money, they chose to stay in a locality that was not considered to be decent. This led his parents to keep Rich away from the outside world as much as possible. As a result, he spent most of his time in front of a computer or a TV.

Rich was mostly homeschooled and never received any formal education. In his free time, he helped his parents run their family restaurant. Since he was homeschooled, he had ample time to explore other areas, such as music and the internet. He once wished to solve a ‘Rubik’s Cube’ and soon realized that he could take the help of the internet to solve the cube. In the process, he logged into his father’s computer and discovered a whole new world.

Soon, he became addicted to ‘YouTube’ and ‘Twitter.’ At the age of 11, he became determined to let himself be seen by a large number of people and started his ‘YouTube’ channel. He followed the American way of ‘YouTube’ and made some dark-comedy sketches to gain a fan base. His videos slowly garnered appreciation and eventually became viral.

At the age of 15, he moved to a more interesting platform, ‘Vine,’ and became equally popular there. Being an Indonesian, neither was English his first language nor did he learn it while being homeschooled. However, he later learned English by watching ‘YouTube’ videos and listening to American music.

One of his American online friends introduced Brian to American hip-hop music. Around that time, he wanted to pursue a professional course in cinematography and wished to work in Hollywood. However, his introduction to the music of Kanye West, Drake, and Logic changed his focus. He ended up writing his very first rap song in 2014 and recorded it on his ‘iPhone,’ using an already existing record. Within a couple of years, his music career was launched.

In July 2015, Brian adopted his screen name, “Rich Chigga,” and started uploading music videos of his rap songs on the internet. His debut ‘YouTube’ track was ‘Living the Dream.’ The song was produced by DJ Smokey and managed to grab a lot of eyeballs. He was one of the few Indonesian rappers who could write raps in flawless English, and within a short span of time, it was hard to distinguish him from American rappers.

His biggest career breakthrough arrived in February 2016, when he uploaded his single ‘Dat $tick’ on ‘YouTube.’ The single was a slow success, but it eventually picked up pace. The song crossed the national borders and reached the US. There, a few rappers and “YouTubers” decided to create reaction videos for the song, thereby making it more famous. The video has amassed more than 90 million “views” on ‘YouTube’ since its release.

The single was eventually certified “gold” by the ‘RIAA.’ It also made its place among the top hits of many American rap charts.

Following the success of the single, Brian released another single, ‘Who That Be,’ in August 2016. He used ‘iTunes’ as the platform for its release. The song followed the success of ‘Dat $tick,’ becoming a success in Indonesia and the US. A few months later, Brian released the remix of ‘Dat $tick.’ He then released his third single, ‘Seventeen.’ The song achieved more than a million “views” within the first few days of its release on ‘YouTube.’

By mid-2017, he had become a celebrity in the US, too. Several American record companies approached him. His popularity reached new heights when he embarked on a month-long tour across the US in April 2017. In May, he released another single, ‘Gospel,’ which featured American rappers XXXTentacion and Keith Ape. Within five months of its release on ‘YouTube,’ the song became a megahit and gathered more than 21 million “views.” The song was released on ‘88Rising’s official ‘YouTube’ channel.