Unapologetic, unfiltered, and most of all, unflinching. 

These are probably the first three words that come to mind when thinking about Indonesian rapper Putri Estiani, better known by her moniker, Ramengvrl. 

After all, her fiery new single entitled ‘WHO DIS?’ is exemplary of her zealous spirit. 

The sort of confidence Ramengvrl exudes from the aforementioned track is seemingly congruent to her previous releases including singles from 2021 such as 'Fake Friends,' 'I'm Ugly,' and 'Don't Touch Me' which features Marion Jola and Danilla. 

And, let’s not forget the latest remix of ‘Ain’t No MF’ with Korean rappers Bryn and Ash-B, alongside pH-1 who also made a vocal appearance on the original version of the song. 

Bandwagon caught up with Ramengvrl recently to have a chat about her career goals and signing with Warner’s new Asian hip-hop label Asiatic. 

Hi Ramengvrl! How’ve you been doing and all?

I mean, Omicron is kinda lit right now in Indo… so I’ve been staying at home. But you know, it’s chill. It’s cool, we’re having fun alone. 

Tell us more about your new single ‘WHO DIS?’ 

So ‘WHO DIS?’ is a casual song, really. It’s just a fun song that I cooked up really quick.

I randomly remembered something from a long time ago where people from my high school or middle school sometimes pop up on my DMS… and we’re not really close like that or didn’t even really talk but they’d be like “Hey Ramengvrl, remember me? Remember when we used to eat ice cream in the canteen or whatever” and I’d be like “No?”

They never even said hello to me in the past and now they’ve just suddenly showed up. I’m not trying to diss them or whatever. I respect every single person but sometimes, you know when people see you have a following, they feel like they can tap in on that and I’m just like ‘WHO DIS?’ so that’s basically it. 

The song is very clearly in reference to these individuals who have resurfaced from your past so I was just wondering, in what ways has fame drastically changed your life? 

I guess it’s not drastic cause I’m still here alone in my apartment cooking chicken and usually I’m not even looking like this. I don’t even put on makeup, I just wear a tank top and shorts with sandals and not even the cool ones.

But now, I have to really think about what if someone recognises me… and usually, they do so you know, you got to look the part even though you cringe at yourself being self-conscious about it but then again, it’s part of the job. 

Speaking of the new single, what was it like working with director Andrea Wijaya (drea.irl) on the high-energy music video for the track? 

I love Drea. This is actually the second music video we’ve worked on together. The first one was ‘Ain’t No MF’ with pH-1. It was just super satisfying. She really did her job really well.

Honestly, I’m not even going to work with any other director other than Drea because she’s just so professional and creative. She’s an artsy person herself and she’s actually becoming one of my closest friends. We just really really vibe and we have fun during the whole shoot. And, she also made the cover art so that’s cool.

The Y2K-esque visuals are pretty interesting. Was that something you were going for to match your look?

Yeah! Drea and I were just joking around and having fun, and we were thinking about what we should do for the cover art. The music itself is already very out there so we thought we didn’t have to be serious for the cover art. Again, she’s an artsy person so no surprise there. 

In the future, I’m guessing there are going to be more music video projects coming up with her?

I’m pretty sure. We kind of already made a pact to be honest. Like yo, let’s make more dope stuff in the next months or so cause’ we always like to share dope music videos with each other. 

Sick! And, how does it feel being part of Warner’s new hip-hop label Asiatic Records? 

So sick because honestly, I feel like what people don’t really know is that artists do not just make music. I mean, obviously, that’s the main focus but we’re always trying to look for the right partner.

I’ve had some experiences in that department and I’m not trying to diss anybody because I’ll always respect each and every partner, and I feel like they were right for that moment.

But for the vibe that I’m in right now, and the pace that I’m working at right now, I feel like Warner is the best partner because they’re super professional and their focus on Asia is what I’m looking for right now.

I feel like people already know me as Ramengvrl the female rapper from Indo and that’s cool but what I’m trying to do now is make a mark outside of Indo and it starts with Asia. 

Out of your entire music catalogue including 2019’s no bethany and 2020’s Can’t Speak English, what’s been your favourite release to date, and why? 

Favourite release to date… I mean, I guess there’s two. First of all, ‘CA$HMERE’ just because I feel like that was my big break and the music video was super fun to do. 

The second one is ‘Ain’t no MF’ which was my first project with Warner Asia. I feel like that’s one of the first ventures of mine where I was very comfortable with being super rappity-rap.

Because before, I had this pressure to really prove a point to people. Being a female in a very male-dominated hip hop industry, you always want to prove to people that you can actually rap. But now, I’m like whatever, I do not have to prove anything to anyone. I just want to have fun and just want to create content for my listeners.

You’ve got an extensive oeuvre of music and you’ve certainly made leaps since your debut back in 2016—how do you think you’ve grown as a musician over the past couple of years? 

Before I was so stuck on thinking that I really need to do a fast rap, and do this or that, and I really need to look like I am a rapper, you know. I wanted to prove to people that I’m not just this random Asian girl trying to rap.

I didn’t even know anyone from the creative industry, let alone the music industry. I was just some average person who came from a conservative background, and I did some corporate job for three years or so before I uploaded my demos on Soundcloud.

But right now, I’m more comfortable with exploration, and I like to do more melodic ones, and I never tell people that this is my style. I’m always learning. I’m not an expert. 

But now that you’ve broken into the international music scene, would you say that you’ve hit a major milestone in terms of carving out a name for yourself as a rapper? 

I do not like to think so. Honestly, those are my real feelings. I don’t think that I have “made it, made it” yet.

People think that I have and they like to remind me of my achievements like, you know, your song is in that game, and you won that Indonesian music award, and you met Snoop Dogg, and yes, I’m very grateful for that but I’m always aiming for more. I've never felt like I’m there yet.

Whenever I’m here, my mind is always somewhere else. It’s always racing. I think you can ask any other artist… even when they’ve released a song, that song is something they’ve been working on like months back so their mind is already on the next three songs.

That’s what I’m saying. It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just that I don’t think I’ve achieved everything yet. There’re a lot of things I want to achieve. I want to perform in, I don’t know, Korea or China but like, the Corona jacked my style. 

Accolades aside, are there still any personal goals you’d like to accomplish in 2022; not just for yourself but also for your music? 

Career goals first, I really want to continue on my Asia tour cause’ we kind of already started doing that in early 2020 so we did Singapore, Malaysia, and we were supposed to do China but we were in the visa making phase, and then lockdown happened.

But yeah, I really want to continue doing that, hopefully, this year but you know, we’ll see.  Personal goal… I don’t know, I think just being happy with myself but I feel like I’ve already achieved that. It’s only February but yeah. 

You were featured on the Spotify Equal music program! How does it feel having your face plastered on the NY Times Square billboard? 

It feels good because I’m a narcissist. I only knew about it this morning when I woke up because of the Warner marketing group chat. I was like ‘Cool!’ and then I continued back to sleep. I mean, that’s pretty cool but what’s next? But yes, I’m really grateful for that!

Last but not least, have you got anything else in the works for 2022? 

I mean, for sure. Obviously, there’s going to be more dope singles, more dope hits, more bangers, and more features which I cannot disclose right now but yeah, we’re on it!