'Amen' to That

Filled with the melancholic wail of synthesizers and the driving trap drums of his contemporaries, Rich Brian’s “Amen” is, for most part, an excellent freshman album. “Amen” is the first full-length project of Indonesian rapper Rich Brian, who came to prominence after his music video for his single “Dat $tick” went viral. Although once known as the comedic rapper Rich Chigga, Rich Brian’s album shows that he is capable of serious musical expression. Some tracks—including “Kitty” and “See Me”—fall flat when the production gets sloppy. Despite this, the album is generally very well-made, and at times unexpectedly compelling.

The title track of the album, “Amen,” opens the project with a stripped-down, bass-heavy drum beat underneath Rich Brian’s opening bars. The title track, much like the entire album, is filled with braggadocious claims, deft lyrical maneuvering, and meaningful insights. The album as a whole discusses love, longing, and, in the case of “Amen,” what it means to be an Asian man in hip-hop. Rich Brian ends the track with a powerful statement: “Do this shit for the people that look like me / So the girls can see them and think of me / And not that kid that throw that fit / Cause he didn’t get straight A’s all week.” These are the types of insights to expect throughout “Amen,” a surprise to many fans but certainly a good one. Lyrically speaking, “Amen” shows off Rich Brian’s impressive baritone flow. Although he has released some solid lines prior, it is throughout “Amen” that Brian shows the world what he is capable of writing.

Production-wise, the album is a major step forward for Rich Brian, who is known for making his own beats. The album represents a distinct stylistic change from intense, major-key, party-type beats to a more melancholic and introspective sound. While the album certainly includes more aggressive tracks, including “Attention (feat. Offset)” and “Enemies,” the work as a whole is notable for its inventive, almost sad-indie-pop usage of synthesizers on songs such as “Cold,” “Introvert (feat. Joji),” and “See Me.”

The closest the album comes to a misstep is on track 11, “Kitty.” “Kitty” details Rich Brian’s first time being with a woman, calling to mind J. Cole’s masterpiece, “Wet Dreamz” off of “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” which some may call one of the best rap albums of the 21st century. “Kitty” diverges from “Wet Dreamz” in that it is a more vulgar take on the subject matter, possessing none of the innocence of its predecessor. Furthermore, when compared to the beats throughout the album, the instrumentation and production on “Kitty” is certainly a cut below the rest. There are very few synthesizers, and the beat is given a bare-bones feel to make way for the storytelling, which does not adequately fill the gap left by the instrumentation.

Thematically, the album is filled with a brooding, introspective darkness, often touching on the emptiness of money and the fleeting nature of love and lust. This introspection is most present in the album’s surprisingly and delightfully poetic “Glow Like Dat.” Throughout the song, Rich Brian details the complex emotions he’s been processing following a tough breakup. The aforementioned “Glow” refers to the aura of positivity with which he sees his ex, while he is filled with sadness and apathy towards the outside world. Even though they remain apart, Rich Brian laments that “[she] live in my head without a doubt.” Musically, the piece features an arpeggiated synthesizer resembling plucked strings over a kick-drum heavy light trap beat, which serves to build a contemplative mood throughout the piece. In this song, it is abundantly clear that Rich Brian is asking the world to seriously consider his emotions and his art. This represents a massive transformation from Rich Chigga, the fanny-pack wearing, Hennessey-holding, comedic rapper, into Rich Brian, a complex artist capable of both hot bars and legitimate introspection.

While “Amen” is several steps away from a masterpiece, it is a solid contribution to the field and a beautiful look into the reborn Rich Brian. The album is for the most part well-produced, the vocal performance is refreshing and skilled, and the beats are well-layered and for lack of a better word, banging. All in all, over the course of the album Rich Brian presents a compelling portrait of himself and the new music he is capable of making.