It was in 2014 when rapper YG released his album My Krazy Life; however, one song on the track is now sparking criticism from Chinese-Americans.
“Meet the Flockers,” a single on the album, is being blamed as an incitement of violence against Chinese residents in the U.S.
The lyrics about robbing houses, particularly Chinese residents, go as far to say: “First, you find a house and scope it out. Find a Chinese neighborhood ‘cause they don’t believe in bank accounts.” These lines were controversial when they were first released, but a recent home invasion in Atlanta has Chinese-Americans petitioning President Obama to ban the song. The recent incident involved three armed men that broke into a Chinese-American woman’s house attempting to rob her, but she shot at the invaders with a handgun.
YG’s song and accompanying music video are igniting outrage in China, too. China Daily called the song “A how-to for those who attempt to break into homes and rob a specific ethnic group.” Ph Dragon, a Chinese rapper based in L.A., released his own rebuttal diss song directed at YG, saying:
"Yo, YG/Now the Chinese neighborhood finds you/And you’re gonna taste your own stuff/What goes around comes around/Checking out YouTube look here what I found/Little punk ass people rapping about robbing Chinese."
Ph Dragon continued by saying, “When I first heard the track, I felt so disrespected. I felt so hurt. I need to stand up to say something about it.”
Chinese-Americans and fellow critics of the song launched a petition on September 21st. So far, it has gained 38,000 signatures and can be signed through “We the People,” a section of the White House website. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures the government will have to respond to the complaint. Some Chinese-American business owners also went to the FBI and complained to U.S. attorneys to take video down, but were told that the 1st Amendment defends it as free speech.
Moving on from ’14, rapper YG has recently released Still Brazy and is currently touring.
Written by Victoria Moorwood
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