Raymond Yu (born February 5, 1982), known professionally as China Mac, is an American rapper, entertainer, activist, and former gang member.

Early years

Yu was born and raised in Brooklyn to Chinese immigrants, from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. He moved into a

group home A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for childre ...

at the age of 8. Yu joined the

Ghost Shadows The Ghost Shadows or GSS () was a Chinese American street gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s. Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong, the gang is affiliated with the On Le ...

gang when he was 12. In his teenage years, he would partake in

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

battles with other kids at the

juvenile detention In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

center.

Career

2000–2013: Incarceration

At the age of 18, Mac was sentenced to three years in prison for gang related crimes in 2000. On November 9, 2003, Mac was involved in an altercation with MC Jin at a bar in

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown () is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center to its south, and Tribeca to its west. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 1 ...

, where he shot Jin's acquaintance, rapper Christopher "LS" Louie, in the back. Mac later went on the run for over a year and was apprehended in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington when he tried to leave the country with a fake passport. In prison, he was nicknamed "China Mac" by the Mac Ballers gang. He was released on parole in November 2013 and founded the Red Money Records record label and pet store with the money he saved up while in prison.

2014–present: Music production & activism

Mac returned to prison for an accused parole violation and was later released in 2017. Since then, he has uploaded video content, including the food show ''Mac Eats'', onto his YouTube channel, China Mac TV. Mac released his album ''MITM'' in 2017. In 2018, Mac was a prominent critic of

Lil Pump Gazzy Garcia (born August 17, 2000), better known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He is one of the most prominent artists of the SoundCloud rap scene and is known for his minimalist music and hyperactive public persona. Li ...

's single ''

Butterfly Doors Butterfly doors are a type of car door sometimes seen on high-performance cars. They are slightly different from scissor doors. While scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car's A-pillar, butterfly doors move up ...

'', which used the pejorative

ching chong "Ching chong" and "ching chang chong" are ethnic slurs and racial pejorative terms sometimes used in English to mock the Chinese language, people of Chinese ancestry, or other people of East Asian descent perceived to be Chinese. The term is ...

slur. In 2019, he released the dual EP, ''Yin'' and ''Yang.'' That same year, Mac released a Chinese/Spanish record with

Tali Goya Juan Miguel Villar, known as Tali Goya, or simply Goya is a Dominican Latin trap rapper raised in New York City. He was influenced by artist such as Jay-Z, Eminem and 50 Cent, as well as gangsta rap. Career He has been dubbed as one of the pri ...

. In July 2020, amidst the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, an 89 year old Chinese grandmother was assaulted and set on fire in

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...

. Mac and actor Will Lex Ham organized a march in that neighborhood on August 1, 2020 as a response to raise awareness about anti-Asian hate crimes. The "They Can't Burn Us All" rallying cry has transformed into a national protest for "unity amongst all people against hate crimes and racism." The duo later held rallies in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. These events have garnered hundreds to participate. China Mac's activism led him to release the single "They Can't Burn Us All" on October 30, 2020.

Personal life

His father was a part of the Chinese-American gang,

Flying Dragons ''Draco volans'', also commonly known as the common flying dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. www.reptile-database.org. Like other members of genus ''Draco'', this species has th ...

, that was active in the 1980s.

References

External links

China Mac
on Instagram
China Mac
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, China 1982 births Living people American male rappers East Coast hip hop musicians Rappers from Brooklyn Gangsta rappers American rappers of East Asian descent African-American–Asian-American relations 21st-century American rappers Former gang members American YouTubers 21st-century American male musicians