Earlier this month, North Carolina Hip hop got a big bump from Durham native George Yamazawa, in the form of his excellent new song “North Cack.” Many know George, or just “G,” for his nationally recognized poetry and youth workshops that he has been curating for over the past decade. Yamazawa shows his range from poetry to hip-hop with this anthem with the help of Durham hip-hop heavy hitter J. Gunn and fellow artist and educator Kane Smego.
Yamazawa makes it a point in the song to demonstrate that, in and everything that he does, that he’s nothing without his family and the city that raised him. Yamazawa notes that the South is often looked upon as a punchline in hip-hop, but he still wants to show his pride for his roots through skilled lyricism and illustrations of what it means to walk with confidence—a confidence that you can only get from placing your heel deep in North Carolina soil.
Though G is frequently in California, and traveling across the world with his poetry, his latest album, Shouts to Durham, is his testament that he’s throwing the Bull City horns up everywhere that his art is taking him. You can watch the video for “North Cack” below.
