Rich Brian, AUGUST 08, & Don Krez at Skyway Theatre in Minneapolis, October 15th, 2019

This show was a part of Rich Brian’s The Sailor Tour following the release of his newest album. Rich Brian, AUGUST 08, and Don Krez are all artists in the 88rising American mass media company. Sean Miyashiro and Jaeson Ma founded the company in 2015 which has since gained popularity as a music platform and label for Asian American and Asian artists releasing music in the US. Rich Brian and AUGUST 08 joined the team in 2016, and Don Krez became a member in 2018.

Don Krez came on first for his DJing set. The crowd cheered for a bit at the beginning but began to die down fairly quickly. In between some songs Krez would try to get the audience’s energy back up, asking who was excited for Rich Brian and the crowd would cheer but then calm down again completely. The next opener was AUGUST 08, a rapper from Korea-town in Los Angeles. From the first song, the crowd was dancing and shouting. This lively energy continued for the whole set. I think the crowd was most lively and singing along the loudest when “Hopscotch” started.

Finally, it was Rich Brian’s turn. Brain Imanuel Soewarno (previously Rich Chigga) is better known as Rich Brian. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, he began learning English at age 11 by watching YouTube and listening to rappers. He began to gain lots of attention after the release of his debut single “Dat $tick” in 2014. His first studio album, Amen, was released in February of 2018 following the change in his stage name. His second studio album, The Sailor, was released in July of 2019 with the tour for this album then beginning in mid-August.

Brian burst onto the stage in a bright yellow jumpsuit going right into the song “Rapapapa”, and had the crowd jumping and screaming along in seconds. Starting the night with such a high energy, intense rap song makes the juxtaposition between other songs over the night more obvious. Just over half of the setlist were songs from his new album with rest being some of the most popular from his discography. Each song was accompanied by unique visuals on the big screens behind him. For his newest single, “These Nights”, the music video with CHUNG HA was projected on the screen. In between some songs, Brian would take the time to explain the inspiration or story behind the next song or just express how grateful he was to be able to do what he loves and be supported by all his fans there. In the middle of his set, the crowd went wild when the beat started for “Dat $tick” and everyone was singing along for the whole song. He rounded out the evening with “Glow Like Dat” which felt like a great song to end on with it having good lyrics but a more chill vibe compared to other tracks. My favorite of the night had to be “Drive Safe” tho, which you can listen to on Spotify below.