Great-grandson of a jazz legend, a guy from Las Vegas, and an artist who is used to creating his music from the first to the last sound – Brooklin Rich released a new single “Fight Me”, concluding a strong triptych of releases on his own label BORNRICH. We talked with the 20-year-old musician and producer about working with his father, loyalty and betrayal in lyrics, Buddy Rich’s legacy, and why a real connection with the listener is built without the help of industry giants.
Nice to meet you, Brooklin! Thank you so much for finding the time for this
conversation. Music has always been with you, literally since childhood – while most of your peers at 10 were struggling with LEGO sets or difficult levels in video games, you were writing your first tracks. How did it all begin, and do you remember that very first song?
Absolutely. The first memory I have writing…my father had a little home studio at the time where he would write and record his own work. I never had the thought to do so or try myself, I was heavily focused on drums at the time, but randomly one day we decided or he offered to just make and record a song together. It was a silly rap song, I remember I was talking about being a good person, and something about a Lamborghini. As hilarious as it was, it opened up a whole new realm I didn’t know existed within me. From that point forward I fell in love with using my voice as an instrument and recording that. Funny enough I actually didn’t enjoy physically writing lyrics until I matured and got older, when I was younger I freestyled everything. Now it’s my favorite part. Honestly I loved a good lego set though.
It’s impossible to overlook your musical genetics. Your great-grandfather was the legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich, the king of jazz and rhythm, while you chose an atmospheric mix of pop music and dark R&B. If your great-grandfather could listen to your tracks today, what do you think he would say? Would he approve of your choice, or suggest adding a couple of complicated drum fills?
I’m not sure really. The jazz world is completely different and people can be a bit stuck up when you say you do “pop” , that’s with any genre though, but I know he would be happy with me doing what I love with good intentions behind it. He would appreciate me being authentic to myself. Either way though, I will have some complicated drum fills in my work, that’s a fact.
People around you often like to look for parallels with great relatives. But you do absolutely everything yourself: you write, record, and produce. Usually, a team of ten people works on one song, while you alone replace an entire production team. Are you a perfectionist who finds it difficult to entrust your ideas to someone else, or do you genuinely enjoy controlling every sound from beginning to end?
Well everything I do, I do with my father who produces and creates the music. We do everything as a team. We’ve been working together for so long we can read each other’s minds when it comes to creation. But I alone am involved with everything of course. I am a perfectionist to a fault, most times I need to tell myself it’s okay if something has a few flaws and I force myself to keep it raw, especially vocally. Flaws are beautiful at times. I find it very difficult to entrust my ideas to someone else, besides my father, but I am slowly finding the people and team who can further provide the sound of ME, if that makes sense. It’s quite boundless and specific .
Your label is called BORNRICH – the name sounds stylish, ambitious, and a little daring. What philosophy is behind BORNRICH?
Well of course it’s a play on my last name Rich, I was literally “born rich.” People will most likely think it has financial meaning, no. I’ve sort of developed a deeper meaning to it throughout the years, and it’s still something I’m developing honestly and it will probably change, but right now it resembles to me being born with a passion, a destiny, thriving in that. “rich” in spirit. “rich” in knowing. It’s an affirmation of some sort, “I was born rich”, you can apply it to yourself however you feel.
The release schedule for your music is becoming increasingly packed, while your average daily streams have grown almost fivefold from your debut to the single “Save Me” – and all of this without the traditional support of major labels. What is the main secret behind such a strong connection with listeners? Have you figured out some secret code that the whole industry is looking for?
The music will speak for itself, I’ll always believe that. I try my absolute best to personally connect with every individual who supports me, and I will assure I always do that. Physically talk with them and communicate with them if they need. I feel that is how you grow a true support system. I don’t want fans, I want a family, I couldn’t be more genuine about that. Right now the key is just staying consistent and trying to reach as many people as we can. As well as releasing true, authentic, and powerful music. Nothing works if the music isn’t impacting a soul. My art also has no limits, my sound will evolve as time goes on and each song will be its own unique experience. I will never be encapsulated in one specific sound, and people gravitate towards that I believe.
Let’s move on to the main event – the release of your new single “Fight Me.” Congratulations on the release from the bottom of our hearts! I know that you wrote “Fight Me” back in 2024 and kept the song for a couple of years. How did you manage to keep the song a secret for so long and resist the temptation to put it online the very next day after recording it?
Well the song was originally a demo that we were going to obviously re-record in a “better studio” at the time. This specific song always hit me hard, it had a special place in my heart. Ultimately it just didn’t feel complete from a mixing standpoint and the time didn’t feel right. The song didn’t feel as powerful as it truly could be. Thankfully we now found someone, Koen Heldens, who brought life to it. That means more than anything, having someone be able to further elaborate the emotion of the song, it’s incredible. So now just felt like the right time. Funny enough the vocals that you hear on the track are still the original demo vocals, the emotion for this specific track just couldn’t be replicated.
The song is included in one release together with the tracks “Resist” and “Save Me.” There is a unified concept and emotional storyline running through this trio. Was it originally intended to be a trilogy, or did the tracks “find” each other and come together into one story on their own?
It was not originally intended to be a trilogy of singles at all honestly, they all just felt right to release. But somehow they still all play a part in each other and make sense, not just these three but all the singles I’ve released so far. The concept will lay itself out, I want people to figure it out and use their minds a bit when listening. I love to use hidden meanings and word play. When listening you should sometimes think deeper than what’s on the surface, and sometimes not. Once I eventually have a project come out the conceptual aspect will be heavily involved.
At the heart of “Fight Me” is a personal story – a confrontation with betrayal, disloyalty, and inner battles. You call the song a conversation between loyalty and disloyalty. Is it easier for you to forgive, or harder for you to trust again?
I can say I forgive or I can say I trust, but the root of it is releasing that betrayal and disloyalty and whatever energy or feeling you harbored with it to gain true peace. This song is me releasing that, casting that away, taking away its power it had over me. I feel once that happens then you can properly trust again. I forgive but forgiveness comes with boundaries at times as well. Trusting again is a difficult thing to do, but again, the time when that energy isn’t rotting within you anymore is the time I believe you will gravitate towards those you can trust. As long as you’re surrounding yourself with positivity I believe it’s easy to find people who are trust worthy. I’m a very loyal individual and that is hard to find in others, I only keep those who prove loyalty around me.
When listening to “Fight Me,” you can feel both emotional aggression and intensity. How difficult – or, on the contrary, how exciting – is it to perform such personal and emotionally charged tracks live on stage?
I actually haven’t gotten the chance to perform this song live yet, but I’m sure when that time comes it will be very emotional for me, whatever that emotion may be or look like. I’m sure I will enter a different state once I get to that place and I’m excited to see what that will look like aswell. probably pretty intense.
And finally: what should listeners expect next – a new single, an EP, an album? Or is it still a secret that you are keeping as carefully as you kept “Fight Me” for two years?
The plan as of now is to continue to grow and build the support system with singles. Slowly reaching the world, song by song. I believe each single will tell its own unique story lyrically and musically, and I think people will gravitate towards everything I release, I truly do. As much as i want to release and work on an album, the time isn’t right yet. I assure you, when that time comes though, it will change lives. That’s a promise.
