On the Rise: Ramengvrl

Raw and to the point, Ramengvrl is the Indonesian rising star carving a name for herself in the global hip hop community.

Her real name is Putri Soeharto, and she is ripping up the rulebook in more ways than one. From corporate office based worker to international rap poet, her debut album Can’t Speak English – which is politically loaded, and solidifies her irreverent, 16-bit brand of trap – draws on those life experiences, encouraging others to fight obstacles and insecurities

Needless to say, she speaks English very well, but when she recorded the album last year, she kept telling others that she didn’t.

“There is a tendency to highlight whatever you’re lacking and your weaknesses,” she admits. “Don’t focus on that. Be aware of it, but also be aware of why you achieved things. Suddenly, I thought, why do I keep saying that when I shouldn’t be. I’m downplaying myself a lot when I clearly deserve to be here.”

Understanding what she was meant to be doing and how to achieve it required some soul-searching. Having spent more than two years employed as a marketing executive where she found herself “crushing numbers in Google Sheets” at one of Jakarta’s investment enterprises, there was a sense of being stuck in her nine-to-five, and so she made the single most significant decision in her life. That decision involved music – even if, at the time, she had no connection to the industry.

“My goal of making music is to express myself,” she explains with exuberance. “I never had a goal to bring forth feminism or girl power. Although I’m a female making music in a genre that’s male dominated, I don’t belong to the ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’ type of female musician. I don’t sell tits or arse, but I sell good music, dope, catchy notes, cadence and flow. Some of this is also my fashion sense, and I want to bring forth more representation of artists from South East Asia.”

She feels strongly about this topic. There is an emphasis on challenging any conventional expectations that women should be girly and have long hair if they want to be contenders for a ‘pretty’ nomination.

Ramengvrl says that her parents have been supportive of the career she is pursuing, despite being from a different generation that fostered traditional values. Growing up in a regularIndonesian household naturally inspired a structured life. But although it was strict, there was a balance, and her parents knew where that was.

“It was conservative – both of my parents were Catholic and went to church every Sunday, and they made me go to church when I was little,” she says. “They knew that to get money, you need to have a stable income every month, but they would never have dreamt of me becoming a musician or an artist.”

She has since done her own thing, adding that: “I do wonder at what point I did rebel, when I had the boldness to think ‘Stop, I don’t wanna live this life anymore’.” The lines seem blurred.

There was a relief in knowing that a conventional lifestyle didn’t agree with her. On the contrary, music provided her with inspiration – it represented a fulfilling occupation, and she embraced the opportunity to get paid for something she just loved doing.

“I would go to work on a motorbike,” she explains. “All I would do was listen to music. Because of the traffic jams, you’ve got an hour gap in your day. During the motorbike ride to the office and back I did a lot of reminiscing and thinking. That’s a meditation in itself. At one point it was a case of realising that I was getting more money than I ever did before for something that I actually love doing’.”

Music constitutes a vibrant outlet for her rebellious spirit, facilitating her punchy, tongue-in-cheek lyrics. To the outsider, Ramengvrl comes across as being at ease with herself – she knows who she is, and what she likes – and Nicki Minaj is an influential source of that power.

“I really look up to her,” she says. “There’re a lot of role models, but she’s my biggest inspiration because she didn’t just pave the way for other female rappers, but rappers in general. She successfully made a household name for herself. She expanded her brand to makeup and fashion – that’s literally what I wanna do. I don’t just wanna be ‘a female Asian rapper’. That’s great, of course, but that’s not my end goal.”

Things have been working in her favour. Released on Empire Records, Can’t Speak English is an important, personal statement, featuring a series of big-time collaborations with artists such as Ted Park, Inayah, euro, Sihk and Pyra. “They are all dope artists,” she enthuses. “That’s what I always wanted to do... it is an accomplishment to finally tick that milestone. It’s not going to be my endgame, I want to go further, but having these artists is great.”

Her new record is a stylistic eyeopener, brimming with diversity and imagination. Lyrically, surprises are aplenty, and the emcee shows a talent to place herself in the shoes of another individual, just like she does on “Foreign”.

“I put myself into character for that song,” she reflects. “I have a crush on this guy, who’s just so different in many ways. You can never know what he’s thinking. If you try to understand what’s on his mind, you can’t relax, there would not be any downtime, you’ve gotta work to get into his head. It’s a fuzzy romance song in a weird, alien way.”

You can deduce Ramengvrl’s politics from the title of her record, but she’s trying to be an ally for causes beyond those that impact her. . She views Black Lives Matter as “not just a case for Black people”, but “a case for humanity.”

“Especially, for someone like me, capitalising on the culture that’s so close to the Black people’s community,” she confesses. “I’m aware that I’m making money out of their culture. It’s important for me to be informed. I am riding on their wave, why would I not care about that?”

“Maybe I’m not doing much,” she offers. “I might just be posting a black square or finding out more information, understanding why it triggered something in a lot of people. It might be happening far away from where I am, but I’m doing my part as someone who’s riding the wave, riding the culture of that community.”

Taking inspiration from other stars in music, she is also becoming a role model, making an important contribution by using her perspective and distinct persuasive powers.

“This is a message for everyone, especially my fans,” she addresses. “No matter where you come from, your background or the colour of your skin, if you focus on what you believe in, you can achieve it. You will get somewhere.”