Around the same time Jin started making waves on BET’s 106 & Park Freestyle Fridays, a rap duo named Smilez & Southstar out of Orlando, FL was also charting Billboard’s Hot 100. Unfortunately, their commercial success was only met with one hit titled “Tell Me (What’s Goin’ On)”. Rodney "Smilez" Bailey and Rob "Southstar" Campman. According to a 2003 MTV article Southstar was born in Hawaii to Chinese and Filipino parents.
At this point in time, Asian American rappers in mainstream popular culture could be counted on a single hand. Beyond celebrating a step forward in diversity in the rap game, the song itself really encapsulates what we perhaps could dub “the romantic era” of rap music. Within one year of “Tell Me (What’s Goin’ On)” the world was blessed with 50 Cent & Nate Dogg’s “21 Questions”.
Additional notes, uncredited to the song’s chorus is Billy Lawrence who also sang the hit song “Come On” featuring MC Lyte off the Set It Off soundtrack.
Tell Me will release quietly on THEWWW on Thursday at 8 AM PST with a general release to follow.
Incoming Y2k mood board:
hi im a fan of ur work & appreciate the in-depth research u do on ur designs. i got 2 hard-boiled shirts when u first dropped them because i wrote for an asian pacific american newsmagazine at uc berkeley named after the film. plz keep sharing ur work on substack & doing what u do. i truly appreciate it & i hope more folks support ur work.
also i never knew about smilez & southstar! thanks for sharing this.