Rich Brian kickstarted 2022 with his Brightside EP, his first release since 2020, in January. Uproxx’s April cover star proceeded to become the first Indonesian artist to play a solo set at Coachella, where he debuted his single “Vivid” on the main stage during 88rising’s “Head In The Clouds Forever” set. Brian amplified the “Vivid” hype by playing it at August’s Head In The Clouds Festival at Pasadena, California’s icon Rose Bowl.
Today (November 17), Brian officially released “Vivid” featuring $NOT alongside a cinematic video.
“This song was the result of this one week I started listening to Musiq Soulchild and thought to myself, ‘What if there’s hard-ass 808s on this?’ And turns out, it sounds pretty good,” Brian said of the hypnotic track.
In the video, Brian is alone on a golf course at night. Frowning golf balls are taunting him, matching melancholic guitar and Brian’s lulling flow. Every ball hit off the tee is met by an introspective bar about romantic complications. “Better live your life, lil b*tch, you got no reruns,” he advises in the first verse, which also includes an Instagram-worthy hook, “I don’t do much in a day, that’s why I got these vivid dreams.”
$NOT matches Brian’s energy, never coming into full focus during his frenetic verse. Sandwiched between a dreamlike refrain and another run through the chorus, Brian coolly boasts about being a “regular at the Rose Bowl, Brookside but I ain’t playing golf.”
Brian will take the stage again for Head In The Clouds Jakarta on December 3 and 4.
Watch the “Vivid” video above.
Rich Brian is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.