Reza Oktovian

He was born as Muhammad Rezaldi Oktovian in Jakarta on October 15, 1987. He was born as a premature baby weighing only 0.8 kilograms.[1] His father was a Christian of Chinese Singaporean–Surabayan descent who owns a cotton production factory located in Tangerang, while his mother was a Muslim who works as a salsa trainer. However, his parents separated when he was an infant. After the divorce, he and his mother often moved from place to place in sake to avoid his father. Even so, he still had time to meet his father again. Reza's father once asked Reza to accompany him to seek treatment in Singapore. The request was rejected by Reza's mother, so the next day the father died, which the mother later regretted. After that, his mother got inheritances in the form of car and her ex-husband's company with it's factory,[2] but she refused all of the inheritances.[3] To meet the needs of his life in Jakarta, Reza used to be a motorcycle taxi driver (tukang ojek), internet café keeper, and door-to-door cosmetics salesman.[4]

In 2003, he started playing the multiplayer online battle arena game Defense of the Ancients, more known as DotA 1 and won a number of achievements.

He created his YouTube channel in 2012. However, he only uploaded his first video on February 2013.[5]

During his career in the entertainment world, he has successively used stage names such as Reza Oktovian, Reza Arap (usually abbreviated as Rap or Arap), and Your Bae (usually abbreviated as YB). The name "Reza Arap" comes from a racist mocking call from his friends who hang out at the same internet café he worked at. He got the call not because he was of Arab descent, but because his skin color was different from his friends.[6]

In 2016, he made his film debut by starring in Modus which was produced by Rapi Films.[7] In the same year, he began to dive into the music world by forming an EDM, synth-pop, and electropop band named Weird Genius with Eka Gustiwana and Billy Taner.

In early 2018, he released a merchandise for his fans. In addition, he also released a clothing business named Your Bae.[8] In the same year in March, he started his solo career in music by releasing a single titled KING (Of Tale). After that, he also released a single titled DEMIGOD. In both singles, he used the name Rapyourbae.

In September 2018, he deleted his YouTube channel and donated it to Yayasan Anyo Indonesia, a foundation that concerns on child cancer.[9] In the following month, he created another YouTube channel which he named only YB.

In 2019, he was contracted by Gushcloud, which is a subsidiary of YG Entertainment, to become the co-owner of PLUUS which is an Asian-based music label.[10] In the same year, he also developed his solo career by releasing several singles, such as Cookie Jar, Nimbus, Virtual Hug, Still Sm;)le, and 10HD. He uses the name YB in all of the singles.

At the end of 2019, he collaborated with the two sons of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, namely Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Kaesang Pangarep, and celebrity chef Arnold Poernomo, to inaugurate a business concept named Kolaborasa, which is located at Kaesang Gallery, North Jakarta. In a business consisting of several product names, he initiated the establishment of an internet café named Tokyo Gaming Space which contains a hundred high-spec computers on the third and fourth floors.[11]

Reza claimed that when he was nine years old, he had been in suspended animation for 12 hours due to complications from dengue fever, heart failure, low blood pressure, and a leaky gut at the same time. At the time, he had been declared dead and was in the morgue. From then on, he felt distrustful of the concept of heaven and hell. This led to the official removal of the name "Muhammad" from his full name in 2018. He felt burdened by the name his mother gave him, due to the discrepancy between his name with his behavior. His mother had no problem with it, so his mother allowed Reza to do so.

He studied at Christian-based schools from kindergarten to high school. However, when he was at home, he was taught to worship according to Islam. Besides Christianity and Islam, he also had some times to study Hinduism and Buddhism. However, he instead decided to become an atheist.[12]

On Saturday, February 21, 2021, he held a Buddhist wedding blessing procession in Bali with Wendy Meilina Leo, or better known as Wendy Walters. Thus, he officially became a Buddhist.[13] Previously, they were legally married in January 2021, which included the sangjit procession on January 2.

• Reza Oktovian on Twitter