Ask Charles Yan where he comes from and he’ll tell you it all goes back to China’s Cultural Revolution. Yan—better known by his stage name, Chow Mane—grew up the son of political refugees in Salinas and the South Bay. He dropped his excellent debut EP, Mooncakes, in 2017. This month he followed that up with his first full-length, Simmering. Sometimes sweet and sometimes sour, but always spicy, the album continues to build on Yan’s signature sound, which blends the hard-scrabble lessons he picked up from his immigrant parents with his first-generation American experiences. Oh… and it knocks.
‘Simmering’
Chow Mane
Out Now
