A. Nayaka just released his new single ‘Balance’ but unlike most artists who spend their post-release days celebrating, the Indonesian rapper’s still in his studio.
“I don’t know why, I just like being in the studio after releasing something new. Maybe to soak in the energy that’s still here,” he said, during a Zoom interview.
Nayaka—who in real life is known as Ariel Nayaka—has always placed importance on his surroundings, whether it’s his studio that’s adorned with his favourite records or the different cities he’s lived in. In fact, it’s the very thing that’s shaped him to be one of the country’s most influential rappers.
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Having spent his formative years in Houston, Texas, Nayaka is a byproduct of living between two cultures.
"I wouldn't say it was dark but it was very weird for me. I was about 6 or 7 years old and I just moved there. I didn't really have any friends and 9/11 just happened,” he shared. “So, I kind of got bullied for the first half a year I was there and somehow the only other people that would be friends with me were other minorities.”
“From there, it went to hip hop. My friends and I did a lot of things but the core of our friendship was hip hop, you know.”
While the now-27-year-old also found an affinity for emo, punk bands like My Chemical Romance and Paramore through the years, his heart always belonged in the world of hip-hop and rap.
Looking up to international acts like Kanye West and Drake, Nayaka tried his hand at making his own music as a teenager before eventually deciding to go all-in while in college, putting out a well-received debut mixtape and his “breakout” single ‘3AM in Jakarta’ which featuring fellow Indonesian act Emir Hermono in 2017.
And since then, the rapper has been on a steady climb to greatness with each year proving to be better than the last.
In 2018, Nayaka earned the first hip-hop album ever to be nominated for Album of the Year at the Indonesian Music Awards, one of the country's biggest music accolades.
"At the time, I lied to my mom that I was still in uni (laughs) even though when I wasn't. I kept telling her that I was working on my thesis but I was actually working on my album which ended up being the very first English hip-hop album nominated at the Indonesian Music Awards. So, that was really funny," he shared, looking back at one of the biggest milestones of his career so far.
"I brought my mom to the ceremony and I was like 'By the way, I dropped out of uni cause I was making this album' (laughs). She was like 'alright, that's cool' but that was an interesting time."
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That following year, the rapper ended up becoming the first artist signed to Def Jam Indonesia, a move that was critical in making him the artist he is today.
"I got signed to Def Jam when I just had a lot of doubts and I wasn't sure whether music was the right thing for me to do. I was thinking about getting a different job but linking up with everyone from Def Jam really showed me that this what I'm meant to do," said Nayaka.
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Since then, the 'Gimme The Keys' hitmaker has relentlessly been building a hefty arsenal of tracks, all of which are rooted in his genuine passion for music and a love for the varied cultures he grew up with.
"I see being a third-culture kid as my superpower, being able to fit it anywhere and nowhere at the same time. I think a lot of people don’t like it but I love it.”
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For most of his career, Nayaka has been rapping in English but recently, he's started incorporating even more of his homeland into his music.
"I’ve always wanted to do songs in Bahasa but my vocabulary in Bahasa is not as good as my vocabulary in English," said the 'Cold Summers' act. "I’ve always wanted to do something in Bahasa, not because for any reason like it’s more marketable or anything but just because it’s my mother tongue. It’s the language that I grew up with, you know."
"I wanted to find a way that wasn’t cheesy; I really like Indonesian rap but some of the words they use are so formal. Then SonaOne told me that if I wanted to rap in Bahasa, I had to use words that I use in my everyday conversations and that really stuck with me. The day he said that I made my first-ever song in Bahasa ‘Waktu Tiba’."
Beyond just language, Nayaka has never been an artist to restrict himself. Constantly evolving and never stagnant, the 'Orang Lain' hitmaker is on a perpetual search for new challenges to his musicality and artistry.
"I really like Drake's versatility; he can drop a super heartfelt record then a super hard rap record and it works for him. I really like that and that's something I 100,000 per cent try to do with my music," he said.
"Being diverse and trying out different things is a part of my musical DNA now, I guess. I can’t just focus on one sound or genre."
In that same vein, Nayaka recently released 'Balance', the very first glimpse into his Drill phase where he's contrasting the musical style's typical aggressive drum beats with melodies and sincere stories.
"Drill beats usually have a way different topic over it, they usually talk about street life, gangs and all that but that’s not me (laughs). I like it, it’s something that I really love to listen to with the homies right now. But I just can’t relate to the content and if that’s something I would do, I’d be straying away from who I am," he shared.
But after hearing a beat from Wolfy, a Malaysian producer who's he's been working remotely with for the last two years, Nayaka found a way to venture into something completely new without losing sight of who he is.
'Balance' is a heartfelt track about Nayaka's personal struggle between money and relationships. "Two things that I personally have always struggled to balance are money and love life. Somehow I never have both at the same time, so when I wrote 'Balance', that's the narrative I wanted to go with," he explained.
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Moving forward, Nayaka plans to continue experimenting with his music starting with releasing an all-Drill album followed by singles that play with pop melodies.
The rapper also teased wanting to finally drop his long-awaited Culture Shock album that's been in the works for the last couple of years. Slated to be his first-ever bilingual album, the record comprises stories all about threading the lines between his native Indonesia and Houston, Texas.
"A lot of people have been asking me about Culture Shock and I think it's finally ready. I really want to do with live shows cause there's a lot of live instrumentalisation in this record so hopefully, that can happen soon," he shared.
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In the last six years, Nayaka has earned a lot of achievements under his belt but there's still so much he hopes to do, including showcasing the power of Southeast Asian rap on a global scale.
“When I started out, I was of course like ‘I’m going to be the best rapper’ but three to four years in, I was like ‘No man, that’s not the goal’. I realised that my role is to connect Indonesian hip-hop to the world. It could be something as simple as connecting Indonesian rappers with producers and other artists from like Malaysia or some place, like I don’t even have to be part of the music," he said.
"The bigger picture is that Southeast Asia is going up together, and that’s something I want to be a part of."
Listen to A. Nayaka's latest single 'Balance' here.
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