Rich Chigga: the talent spotter who made Indonesian rapper a big name and gave Chinese kids some new role models
Sean Miyashiro’s mission to show the world Asians can rap began at a Bronx car park two years ago; since then he’s founded a company, 88rising, and signed up some of the hottest acts in Indonesia, South Korea and China
Editor's note: After the publication of this article, Rich Chigga changed his name to Rich Brian.
Sean Miyashiro’s quest to show the world that Asians could legitimately rap began on the roof of a parking garage in the Bronx, New York.
Two years ago, Miyashiro had to escape from his girlfriend’s thin-walled dorm room at the nearby Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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He liked to stay up late playing loud music – especially from rappers in Indonesia and South Korea, whom he came across on the internet, but other medical students complained. Miyashiro took refuge on the top level of a nearby garage, where he could park his car and play music at hubcap-rattling volume. He could get a Wi-fi signal, allowing him to commune online with the rappers, as well as food at a nearby McDonald’s and a local deli. There was no toilet up on the garage, but it wasn’t a problem.
“To be honest, I would even go to the bathroom here,” Miyashiro said on a recent visit to the parking garage. “I mean, it’s just too far to go back down there. I had everything here. My car was my office.”
Today, Miyashiro has a more enviable set-up. His company, 88rising Inc, has offices in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Shanghai. The founder and his 24 employees oversee a roster of artists, the best-known of which is Brian Imanuel, a baby-faced 18-year-old Indonesian who rhymes under the name Rich Chigga, and who performed at a nightclub in Hong Kong’s Central district in June this year.
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In the video of his 2016 hit, Dat $tick, Imanuel deftly parodies American rap culture and Asian nerd stereotypes, talking tough and dancing menacingly in slow motion while wearing a pink polo shirt and a fanny pack. The video has been viewed more than 77 million times on YouTube.