Indie music label/creative agency 88rising have steadily forged their way into the mainstream by jet-fuelling the careers of Rich Brian (previously Rich Chigga), Joji, and Chengdu trap-rap quartet Higher Brothers (also known as China's answer to Migos). The careers of earlier acts such as Keith Ape and DEAN may have stalled, but the continued success of this recent crop of stars has led to a North American tour. Label founder Sean Miyashiro has thus been featured in a succession of increasingly glowing profiles in Pitchfork, Forbes, Billboard, Bloomberg, High Snobiety and Mass Appeal.
Rich Brian’s debut album Amen follows in the trail of Joji’s debut EP (November 3, 2017) and will be released shortly, on February 2. The stage appears to be set for a historic breakthrough by an Asian rapper. After releasing “See Me” earlier this month, he joins forces with no less than four other musicians - Trippie Redd, Kris Wu, Joji and "Harlem Shake" producer Baauer - for the epic “18”. (The track’s title might refer to Brian Imanuel’s age, serve as a successor to his previous single “Seventeen”, and/or this year).
Apart from Joji, the three rappers deliver ample amounts of swagger and bravado against a thundering trap-beat. Kris Wu glides along in his usual element, delivering a series of self-praising verses in English and Mandarin: ‘I do this shit alone (I do)/ I'm the Yeezus of the East/ You need to Watch the Throne (yeah)’. Rich Brian then takes over with a more playful demeanor: ‘Yeah, tell your chick I like her, take it on my Leica/ And I'm always stacking paper, but my name ain't Michael/ Got a crib in Indo, it's tall just like the Eiffel’. On the song’s third verse, Ohio rapper Trippie Redd throws some drug-induced instability in the mix: ‘I'm just swerving, smoking on some dank/ I'm just tryna fucking ease the pain/ ‘Fore I blow my mind like Kurt Cobain’.
Joji slows down the pace and introduces his signature watery introduction halfway through the song. The chorus refers to his the transformation of his artistic persona (Filthy Frank and the Pink Guy are no more): ‘They said that I won't make it/ They said that I won't change/ They say that I'm not flexin' (Pow-pow-pow)/ Now they say wow, you've changed (skrrt)’. The other rappers flex around in jets, party with snake-tongued women in Japanese schoolgirl outfits and hover above the ground via angel wings in the bombastic BRTHR-directed music video, but Joji plays a child-sized piano and gets turned into a Christ-figure after being torched with a flamethrower. That dash of pathos makes all the difference.
