
Soulful pop singer/songwriter Nick Rich impresses on his authentic, gorgeous, first single of 2024, “I Know You Are (But What Am I).”
[otw_shortcode_dropcap label=”W” size=”large” border_color_class=”otw-no-border-color” shadow=”shadow” square=”square”]ho is Nick Rich – that is the question! The answer is, he is an American artist who patterns himself after British soul musicians. And let me tell you, folks, he patterns himself after them like a boss! “I Know You Are (But What Am I)” marks his first single of 2024. Running north of four minutes in duration, it’s a fabulous four minutes-plus. Guitar is the first sound the listener hears in the intro, establishing a minor key (D minor to be precise). Rich offers up playful vocals during the intro, which draw the listener in and preface the excellence that is to come. Soon enough, we add keys, and a light, soulful groove, again, in the British soul/ pop-soul style. [/otw_shortcode_dropcap]
Beyond his fabulous vocals during the intro, throughout the course of “I Know You Are (But What Am I),” Rich gives us gorgeous and refined vocals. He never over sings yet is potent with his emotional delivery. He has tuneful melodies to work with, particularly the chorus. I love the way that he uses background vocals throughout, upping the ante, notably during that epic chorus. The bridge also deserves a shoutout, providing terrific contrast to the verses/chorus. Post-bridge, the instrumentation gets a slight tweak – subtle, mind you – bridging the retro-sound and the present. There is so much to love about Nick Rich as an artist. Quite talented, his pen and vocal skills are superb. All told, he nails it on “I know You Are (But What Am I)”. Bravo – bravissimo!

🎙 Nick Rich • 🎵 “I Know You Are (But What Am I)” • 🏷 Big Red • 📅 2023
[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Big Red; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]

![Nick Rich, I Know You Are (But What Am I) [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Big Red; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]](https://i0.wp.com/themusicalhype.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/nick-rich-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i-song-review-2024.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)

![Travis Porter, Bring It Back: Bangerz N Bopz No. 68 (2026) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; RCA Records; Art Laurence Luzon, cottonbro studio, Osmar Vasques, Sebastian Ervi, Wallyson Nascimento from Pexels; Gordon Johnson from Pixabay]](https://i0.wp.com/themusicalhype.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/travis-porter-bring-it-back-bangerz-n-bopz-68-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![Al Calderon, brokiii: Beaming with Pride No. 93 (2026) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Al Calderon / Create Music Group Inc.; Cristyan Bohn, Ketut Subiyanto, Luis Morales Torres, SHVETS production, Uriel Mont from Pexels; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Gordon Johnson, Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay]](https://i0.wp.com/themusicalhype.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/al-calderon-brokiii-beaming-with-pride-93-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)
![Conan Gray, Heather: Bangerz N Bopz No. 67 (2026) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Republic Records; Art Laurence Luzon, cottonbro studio, Osmar Vasques, Sebastian Ervi, Wallyson Nascimento from Pexels; Gordon Johnson from Pixabay]](https://i0.wp.com/themusicalhype.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/conan-gray-heather-bangerz-n-bopz-67-2026.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1)