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Mano Sundaresan is on your head like a durag.
With every passing YouTube hit, Cambodian rapper $tupid Young expands his reach beyond Long Beach and grows as a voice for his unsung background. Young claims the Asian Boyz, a gang affiliated with the Crips that has historically been a source of protection for poor Southeast Asian immigrants, refugees, and their kin. This is a side of LA gang culture that has been rarely examined through the lens of rap music. Friday nights are for Hennessy and hole-in-the-wall Cambodian food. There are 100-day Buddhist ceremonies after gang members are gunned down. Switching from a Long Beach drawl to fluent Cambodian or Vietnamese is second-nature for many.
$tupid Young has channeled his upbringing through his music to great success. His biggest hit “Mando” with Mozzy was one of the most magnetic songs out of Long Beach last year, and “Murder Scene” with Lil Durk is still electric. In representing his background, he’s also sparked some controversy. Young frequently uses the N-word in his music, which he says he’ll never change because doing so would distort his portrayal of the environment he was raised in.
We’re premiering “That’s Facts,” the lead single off $tupid Young’s upcoming project True Story, due out Dec. 7 and slated to include features from Roddy Rich, Lil Gnar, and P-Lo. Young’s hooks have always been sticky, and he doesn’t let up here. The Bay’s P-Lo pops in for a diss that could end many content-creator careers: “How you a nerd in reality but thuggin’ on YouTube?” And Young doesn’t let a beat this hard pass without distilling his mantra: “You ain’t ever seen an Asian boy like this.”
