A. Nayaka was visibly amazed when The Jakarta Post pointed out that Cold Cuts, which was released digitally on April 1, was his fourth studio album — a record that further lengthens a career discography that was eight years in the making, encompassing his 2017 EP Colorblindflo and a hip-hop band project Blue Room Boys. Asked about the number of records he has made so far, the 27-year-old quipped, "Actually, I kind of lost count."

Nayaka has never considered himself the leader of his genre.

"I think I'm more like a prime symbol of 'being-yourself-wherever-you-go'," he said, laughing. "You see me doing this interview, but once we're, like, going out and having a drink, this is still me. And I really like pushing that agenda: letting people know that being yourself is cool."

Speaking of marching to the beat of one's drum, Cold Cuts can also be observed as Nayaka at his most liberated. Ditching the conventional hip-hop formula for a less-is-more precept, the emcee aimed to flex his rap muscle while examining his growth as a human being, resulting in what he claimed as his "best" record yet.

Cool dish: Rapper A. Nayaka's fourth studio album 'Cold Cuts' was released on April 1 under Def Jam Indonesia. (Courtesy of Universal Music Group) *ITALIC ALBUM FOR PRINT* (Courtesy of Universal Music Group/Courtesy of Universal Music Group)

Immigrant song

To explain the magnitude of the value of Cold Cuts, Nayaka proposed a brief stroll down memory lane.

Although Nayaka was born in Jakarta, he spent his childhood and pre-adolescent years in Houston, Texas, the United States. Being an immigrant, the future rapper found himself meshing well with friends of African-American and Latin American descent — a boyhood camaraderie that later exposed him to hip-hop culture and music. During a family road trip from Seattle to San Francisco, his mother allowed him to purchase a CD of his choosing. He selected US rapper 50 Cent's debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. 

"That's an amazing album!" he gushed. "[It was] 2003 and I was nine years old and that was the summer when that album came out. I listened to that album and that album only throughout our road trip."

Some people might be fascinated by hip-hop music due to its aggressive sound or no-holds-barred lyricism, but for Nayaka, what made it become more than just a pastime entertainment was how the discography of his favorite American emcees — 50 Cent, Eminem and DMX, to name a few — helped him bond with his pals back in the US. "I felt comfortable with hip-hop because really, it always reminded me of acceptance," he reminisced.

Nayaka was 21 years old when he decided to independently release his debut studio album, Curriculum Vitae in 2016. Conceived of as akin to a “resume” to enter the Indonesian music industry, the 12-track LP finds the then-budding rapper exploring different sonic facets of hip-hop music and features fellow Indonesian emcee Ben Utomo. The album was recorded during his six-month student exchange program in Germany. The rapper cheekily remarked that he "didn't really do well in college”.

Curriculum Vitae had little impact on Indonesian radio and digital streaming platforms upon its release. Nonetheless, Nayaka insisted that he had no regrets.

"I always see that album as a time capsule of my brain at that time, in terms of what I was thinking or what I was capable of. I don't feel contrite about it. Sure, when I listen to that album now, some songs are bad. But that was what I was capable of at that time," he said nonchalantly. 

Not so breezy: A. Nayaka's love for hip-hop music was influenced by his childhood as an immigrant in the United States. (Courtesy of Universal Music Group) (Courtesy of Universal Music Group/Courtesy of Universal Music Group)

Blue bayou

Two years later, Nayaka released his sophomore effort Cadence Blue under Preach Ja Records: a hip-hop-focused indie label that he also co-founded. The LP received critical acclaim, with the rapper receiving a nomination for Best of the Best Album at the 2018 Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards. As of 2022, Cadence Blue still holds its distinction as the only rap album and the only LP recorded entirely in English that has ever received such recognition.

On a personal level, Nayaka received an AMI Award nomination for granting both justification and validation to his craft — especially in the face of a not-so-understanding support system. During the two years leading up to Cadence Blue, he concurred that he had not exactly been open to his family about his work as a rapper.

"When I got the nomination, I felt very relieved and happy, but not really for the sake of, like, 'Oh, my peers have acknowledged me!" Because my mind was, like, 'How do I make sure that my mom is chill with [me being a rapper]?'" he recalled. All's well that ends well, Nayaka later discovered — the nomination convinced his mother to support his career, leading up to her being his plus-one at the award ceremony.  

Nayaka had been excited to repeat, if not outdo, the critical success of Cadence Blue with his third studio album when the COVID-19 pandemic put an unwelcome damper on his efforts. The rapper, who would later receive five more AMI Awards nominations and win his first trophy for Best Hip-Hop/Rap Production Work for Dipha Barus, Matter Mos and Ramengvrl-assisted "Decide", found inspiration in government-mandated lockdowns and dropped his “pandemic album” CARAKARANTINA in 2020. It was his first album released under Def Jam Indonesia.

The experience of working on his third studio album unearthed a different side of the rapper: "I grew fond of being a loner a little bit," he said with a bemused smile. "Now I don't go out as much even though places are kind of opening up again. Back in the day, I could go out five times a week. But now? Two or three days being outside and I'm already spent."

Mr. Freeze: 'Cold Cuts' features A. Nayaka's fellow rappers such as Sippy Straw Greg and K. Waltz. (Courtesy of Universal Music Group) *ITALIC ALBUM FOR PRINT* (Courtesy of Universal Music Group/Courtesy of Universal Music Group)

Break the rules

Nayaka started compiling material for his fourth studio album Cold Cuts "at the same time as I was making CARAKARANTINA," he divulged — and he was raring to try out a few new creative approaches. The first item on his list: he wanted to make a record without regard to its commercial appeal, insisting that he "wasn't really aiming for numbers" with Cold Cuts. The second item on his list: he wanted to find out what kind of record he would produce by freestyling the process.

"Compared to my previous work, I gave less thought to [Cold Cuts]. It was genuinely, like, 'If it feels good, if it sounds good, then I won't tweak a thing. That's it!'" he elaborated.

Cold Cuts is not without ambition, though; Nayaka described the full-English album as an "antithesis" to the growing hip-hop music in Indonesia, most of which adopts a bilingual lyrical style. While the album is still predominantly a hip-hop record, the rapper was inclined to incorporate United Kingdom-style drill sounds. First originating in the South London district of Brixton, the rap subgenre is notorious for its perceived "hostile" nature — an element that, Nayaka believed, would inform the novelty of the album. But he clarified that lyrically, he had no intention of "promoting" violence with Cold Cuts.

"Once I started trying to write the lyrics and do the vocal over the drill beat, I discovered that it was different: you couldn't do your normal cadences and you couldn't do your normal rhyme patterns. I liked that because it was something new. I always love the feeling of it as if it were my first time rapping," he enthused in delight.

Cold Cuts also served as an opportunity for Nayaka to address the impact of his upbringing. The album's closer, "Balance", in particular, touches on the rapper's past as he looks back on how "inner city H-town raised me / And 9/11 done changed me," he rhymes in English. He confirmed that being a Muslim immigrant in the US post 9/11 attacks came with a certain emotional toll, especially for young children. 

"I remember my mom telling me, 'From now on, you have to be careful at school. Don't let anyone find out that you're a Muslim.' And I was like, 'Why?'" he reminisced.

Wolfy, one of the producers of Cold Cuts, applauded Nayaka's "quick" creative process. "Overall, Nayaka and I got really close through these songs and now that’s my brother for life. Not much thought was put into this album, and I think that kind of raw output always results in the best music," he summarized.

Sippy Straw Greg, who is featured on the album's second lead single "PTM", commended Nayaka's fearlessness.

"People are afraid to try because of the possibility of failure, but how do you know if you don't try? Nayaka is not afraid of failure. He always remembers the promise he made to himself and his mother.”

A. Nayaka's Cold Cuts is available to stream