Rich Amiri has been training for this moment. Since percolating in the 2016 Soundcloud scene, the Boston-raised rapper bubbled up as someone to watch within the internet rap world for a couple of years now with his Future-infused vocal stylings and cover boy looks.

“I had to get it out on the internet because I couldn’t get it out of my city,” he tells PAPER. The 20-year-old rapper finally got the lightning-in-a-bottle moment he was waiting for late last year when his song, “One Call,” blew up on TikTok. With streams in the nine digits, the track propelled him to a level of notoriety that every budding rapper dreams of, but it also made him some enemies.

On Reddit threads, chronically online hip-hop heads flooded Amiri, real name Elijah Policard, with petty hate comments and detractory comparisons. It’s hard being a new artist in the internet age, especially when you suddenly gain a massive amount of attention very quickly.

“It was my first time being famous,” he says. “I was combatting the negativity that I was struggling with at the time from the internet.” That song put him in the spotlight: it was in the Lebron James Netflix documentary, it was his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, and he earned a spot on the 2024 XXL Freshman list. But since that viral moment, Amiri has been putting his head down, collecting his armor and now is ready for war.

In comes his debut album, War Ready, released last Friday. His proudest work to date, the project is an assured statement from the rapper who toggles genre and moods in a way that is uniquely his own. The album has been teased for nearly a year, during which Amiri remade it multiple times, fine-tuning every detail to match the vision he’d cultivated.

Thematically, War Ready represents resilience, ambition and the delicate balance of personal triumphs and public expectations. Drawing inspiration from Tame Impala’s psychedelic textures and Future’s emotive trap, Amiri pushes boundaries with tracks that feel cinematic yet deeply intimate. Teaser singles like “MADONNA & RIHANNA,” and “COUNT MY BANDZ” showcase his ability to meld futuristic soul, trap and R&B into something that is not just a one-off TikTok sound. This is Rich Amiri coming into his power.

PAPER caught up with the rapper to discuss internet-internal connection and why he’s so proud of this album.

You’ve had quite a year. Can you tell me about your new album, War Ready? I heard you’ve been reworking it over and over this year.

Yeah, for the most part, it’s an album I’ve been working on for a year now. I’ve gone through a lot of different stages with different producers, different sounds and different beat selections. I finally think I hit the mark with the tracklist.

What about the title? I see in your Instagram bio, it says, “ready 4 war?” What was the inspiration behind the album’s name? I guess there are multiple wars going on in the world right now.

Yeah, it wasn’t too much of a political thing as much as an internal battle. When I had first come up with the album name, I was just dealing with a lot of pressure from the internet. That’s what originally inspired me to title it War Ready. I was just like, “I’m ready to go to war with all of you motherfuckers.”

It made me want to go watch Madonna’s “American Life” music video.

I haven’t seen that video. I’ll go check it out, though. I didn’t even know about that.

You also have a song called ”MADONNA & RIHANNA,” which has some war-themed visuals. Can you tell me about that video?

As far as the concept, I really just told my videographer that I wanted to go with a war theme to go hand-in-hand with the rollout of my album. My boy Nev, he does most of the creative direction behind that stuff, so I wouldn’t wanna take any credit and explain stuff that came out of his head. But yeah, I really just told him that I wanna go with the war theme, and he just went crazy from there.

When you say you were more at war with yourself, what does that mean?

Not at war with myself, but it’s more that I was combatting the negativity that I was struggling with at the time from the internet — an internal struggle.

You came up on the internet. You were uploading on SoundCloud from your room. That’s sort of the blueprint for how artists come up nowadays and dealing with people on the internet is a big part of that. Was that a struggle for you?

It definitely was. It was almost like my first time being famous. I had a few tracks here and there, but I hadn’t really been broadcast on a mainstream setting. So once I finally reached that point, I don’t think I was fully prepared to see everything that comes with that, you feel me? I had to have an adjustment period. That just goes back to why I named the album [War Ready] because that was my first time dealing with that scale of [fame]. Even though I was selling out more shows, the hate is always gonna be louder than love. So it was my first time dealing with that many people saying whatever they were saying.

This is your first full-length project. What do you think makes you so proud of this work to have it as your debut album?

I feel like the music really just speaks for itself. Some of the times with my older work that I put out, it was either that I really liked the song but I didn’t know if people were gonna love it. Or I don’t really like this song, but I think it’s gonna resonate with my audience. But with these songs, I’m really sure. I love these songs to death, and I know that people are gonna love these songs to death. Even the few snippets that I’ve been putting out and the reaction that I got from those, I’m just 100% confident. It’s really amazing music.

Who are some people that you reference visually? Even from your childhood, who were the main icons that you feel like impact your work today?

For my visuals, I mainly leave that up to my director and videographer. I’ll tell them, “We should try this thing,” but as far as being completely involved with my visuals as much as I am with my music, I can’t say I’m really like that. I really like to leave that up to the videographers and directors. I’ve been dealing with music my whole life. I’ve been writing rhymes since I was eight years old. But I can’t say it’s been the same with visuals. Even though, of course I still have my creative direction and a general idea, I really like to let the directors do most of that.

You’ve also been on some runways recently. How has it been dipping into the fashion world?

It’s really amazing. Fashion has been another thing, almost like music, that’s been with me since I was a kid. So to finally be able to really be a part of this is a surreal feeling.

Where did you grow up?

Boston, Massachusetts.

How do you think your upbringing primed you for this moment?

As far as the local scene, I don’t really think Boston has had too much of an influence on my career at all, actually. It’s not a major city that an artist can blow up out of, like if they were to come from Atlanta or Chicago. I had to get it out on the internet because I couldn’t get it out of my city. I wouldn’t say Boston really had too much of an effect on my music or my career. It was really just the internet.

What would your advice be for a 13-year-old kid who is rapping on the internet and wants to blow up? Because you’ve lived it and have had success.

I would say a lot of people try to do it out of their city. If you’re not in a major city, and even if you are, I wouldn’t suggest doing it out your city. I would say to try and get as involved with the internet. Use it to your advantage. Don’t just use it as a waste of time.

In five years, where do you see yourself being?

Only time will tell, but I am predicting very successful. Successful and a whole lot of blessings.

Photography: Edwig Henson