The New Cross-raised Chinese / Vietnamese rapper layers dark dreamy beats with his cryptic vocals on his debut LP on Hippos In Tanks
Debuting his 'NXB' (New X Boys) LP on cult imprint Hippos In Tanks, the elusive young rapper straight outta New Cross, Triad God, aka Vinh Ngan presents his mixtape now remixed & remastered, to be released with three new tracks on the forward-thinking label.
Born and raised in the UK, the Vietnamese-Chinese rapper working with London electronic producer Palmistry incorporates unlikely influences for his unique sound; layering soporific, dream-like beats and wistful instrumentals under his spoken word vocals in his native language - mostly chatting about life in the Triad brotherhood and swearing a fuckload. Here we tried to squeeze some words out of Ngan (which he asked us to also rep in Chinese) about what he does alongside a premiere of his new track 'Pok' (which is a pretty naughty word in Cantonese).
Dazed Digital: What's your favourite thing about SE London?
Triad God: The hood, I grew up in Peckham but always been a New Cross boy. / 鄰里, 我在佩卡姆長大, 但我一直是一個新交叉的男孩。
DD: Are your lyrics personal to you or are they a secondary consideration to the music as such?
I'm just making tunes it's not really personal. / 我只在做音樂, 它不是真正的個人。
DD: What's your favourite sound currently?
Chinese love songs, Chinese rap music, Tupac / 中國情歌, 中文說唱音樂, 圖帕克
DD: Who or what are you listening to now?
Wong Kit / 王傑
DD: Can you recommend your favourite website/blog we might have missed?
I just watch Chinese films on Youtube / 我只是在Youtube上看中國的電影
How would you describe your work?
It's all good cause I just do what I want / 我只是做我想做的
What's next?
HK / 香港
'NXB' is the first Triad God release on Hippos In Tanks, available as a very limited edition LP.
