""I feel like M.I.A./I got the freedom to create," the adolescent boy chirped, pacing in circles and staring out at distant cityscapes, not looking very free. A little over a year ago, when Feng's "M.I.A." video came out, his songs were moody sketches of youth and yearning custom-made for Instagram Reels. The boasts sounded more like coping mechanisms: Affirmations arising in lonely hotel suites, the kind of places where people are sadder than they seem on Instagram."
"Feng is a 19 year-old rapper who resides in London, but spends lots of time in Los Angeles, where the laid-back swagger of last decade still lingers. It was in L.A., last year, that the subject of "Left for USA," from his slight debut mixtape, found a new, appealing life: "Hollywood Boulevard, he must be living great/I'm stuck in London, that's why everything look gray." But not for long."
"Feng-who recently struck a major-label deal-makes coast-hopping music, and will soon be making coast-hopping money, too. (Another "M.I.A." lyric: "Gettin' fly like planes/I went from London to L.A.") But somewhere beneath his swag-era escapist pastiche lies a latent longing. This is partly why everyone is obsessed with Feng: not only is he constantly between two continents, but two competing sensibilities, a clouted optimist who's mastered the moment before the comedown."
Feng is a 19-year-old rapper who splits time between London and Los Angeles, mixing laid-back L.A. swagger with London grayness. Early songs like "M.I.A." were moody sketches of youth and yearning tailored for Instagram Reels, with boasts that read as coping mechanisms in lonely hotel rooms. "Left for USA" channels coast-hopping escapism and literal lyrics about moving from London to L.A. A recent major-label deal signals commercial ascent. Beneath the swagger lies latent longing and a tension between optimism and comedown, producing brief, potent tracks that capture youthful extremes and the short-form attention economy.
Read at Pitchfork
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