Dat $tick (Rich Chigga) By Madison Forsander

Rich Chigga (Brian Imanuel) is very new to Spotify and this first single is quite promising. As a white girl attempting to understand the rap culture that I love so much, and naturally turning to Urban Dictionary as my source for cultural references, I can assure everyone that “chigga” means exactly what you automatically assume. The beat throughout “Dat $tick” is catchy and something you can easily wiggle around to. Imanuel touches upon the classic R&B subjects of wealth, violence, and disliking the police. However, he does allude to a couple more sophisticated concepts such as education, condemning gang affiliations, and the wage/poverty gap.

​There is a video to accompany “Dat $tick”, featuring a very young looking Imanuel (so young that one might wonder just how big of a role autotune played) dressed in cuffed khaki shorts, a pastel pink polo, multi-colored sunglasses, oversized gold watch, all topped off with a Reebok fanny pack. This frat/preppy/mainstream focal point is set among other Asian boys in all black, leather, and wielding handguns (more along the lines of what one might expect in a “chigga” video). There is not only a significant juxtaposition in the clothing and people, but also within the setting of the video. It flashes between the streets of derelict, borderline condemned homes and factories and the intricate spiraling staircase below a crystal chandelier within the foyer of a home one would image at the end of a long driveway protected within the walls of a prestigious gated neighborhood. With this level of lyrical and visual juxtaposition within “Dat $tick”, I am looking forward to what is to come from Rich Chigga, even if it includes a fanny pack.