Rapper Chino Yang speaks out over demands he repudiate his song criticizing SF mayor
January 10, 2024
Chino Yang, a rapper and small business owner who released a music video criticizing Mayor London Breed for San Francisco’s crime, has spoken out after the city’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) demanded him to repudiate the song.
Yang’s frustration: In an interview with ABC7 News, Yang, whose real name is Xiao Chuan, said he was frustrated with break-ins and vandalism affecting his business, noting that in the course of three years, he “had seven break-ins and vandalism.”
“That was a tipping point in deciding, you know what? Reach out to the city, nobody is going to respond,” said Yang, the owner of Kung Food and AceKing BBQ in the Bay Area.
About the diss track: The situation eventually led him to release the song “San Francisco Our Home,” where he raps about Breed and city leaders’ supposed failure in addressing crime. In the song, Yang referred to Breed as a “clown” and “phony-ass liberal,” accusing her of turning San Francisco into a “zombie land.” In the music video, he also draws attention to the city’s drug overdose deaths and increasing robbery cases and pays homage to local Asian victims of violence, including 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee and 2-year-old Jasper Wu.
Threats against Yang: Rev. Amos Brown, the president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP and a supporter of Breed, came to Yang’s business and allegedly threatened to turn the Black community against the 35-year-old rapper unless he repudiated his song, warning of consequences for his family and business, according to the Asian Justice Movement (AJM).
In a voicemail to Yang, Brown can be heard saying, “I asked you to repudiate that rap and since you have not, and I told the Black community you did not, the community will make a public statement calling you out for the wrong you did to the mayor. The mayor is not responsible for the crime in the city.”
“This young rapper needs to get his lessons… and sit down a learn!” he later exclaimed at the press conference, where he allegedly commanded Yang to make a public apology. Although Yang released an apology video on Instagram, he did not attend the conference. Instead, Yang and AJM have condemned his alleged threats and demanded an apology.
The upcoming reelection: The controversy arises amid Breed’s upcoming reelection, where crime is expected to be a significant focus. Political insiders suggest that the incident reflects the challenges Breed faces in securing the Asian American vote during her re-election campaign. The Asian vote is considered crucial in San Francisco politics, as seen in recent elections and recalls.
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