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In a world that feels unhinged, stressed, and at a breaking point, the music of yung kai is the emotional rescue we need and deserve. Exploding on TikTok, quickly followed by streaming success with his hit single “blue,” yung kai popped off in 2024 in a way that suggests the world needs earnest, beautiful music more than ever. Despite the accolades and stunning metrics, we still weren’t as familiar as we’d like to be with the Vancouver-based artist, so to peel back the mystery behind this guitar-strumming modern troubadour, we hopped on a Zoom to learn more. 

OnesToWatch: So, the first question I always ask is... why are you an artist? 

yung kai: I mean for me, my mindset was always—since like high school it was always music or nothing because I just really had no passion for anything else. Maybe some sports, like volleyball, I used to play, but school and stuff, like being a doctor, I hated that shit. My parents wanted me to be a computer engineer. I couldn't, bro. I really couldn't. So, yeah, I mean, music was always in the back of my mind. If I could do music for a living, that's the dream. So I just kept going. I tried my best, you know, and somehow I'm here. 

Did anything else compete for that creatively? 

It was really music or nothing. Creative-wise, no, it's always just been music. 

When did you feel comfortable calling yourself a musician? 

I used to be a producer in high school. I just made YouTube beats, and I don't know if, at that time, I would have called myself a producer. I would just say something like I “make music.” I think I could confidently say I'm a musician, maybe after I dropped “Wildfire.” Which is one of my three songs. It was my second song. 

You released it on April 26, 2024, so that’s when you feel you could call yourself a musician?

I guess so, I guess so. Because before I was just posting me singing on TikTok. I was like a cover artist, you know? Now I can call myself a musician. 

Delving into your process, you obviously made beats, so you understand the compositional construction of a song. But when you begin a song, is it melody-based? Does it start with lyrics? Is it an idea? Is it a color? Is it emotion? Is it a diary page? Where does it all begin?

I could explain the process of “Blue,” which represents my main process for most of my songs. Making a song is really hard. I can't force myself to make a song. Like if right now, if I just pulled up FL Studio. and just try to make a song, it's going to be shut. But for “Blue,” I had a lot of emotion at that time. Like, I was watching this C-drama, Chinese drama with this cute girl that I liked, you know? I really liked the songs in the drama, too, and I really liked the drama itself. So I put all that emotion together, it was so much built up inside me and I put it into a song. And that's usually how making a song goes for me. Like if I try to force it, it doesn't really work. 

Also if we're talking about the process, I always start with the guitar. So I do chords. Then, I do a little drums and I put a lead on there. And then I usually come back to it after a few days or a few weeks, because I'm always not feeling it when I first make it. I never feel it. So I tend to wait a little bit. And then I come back to it, I rearrange it, and write lyrics. And that’s the process. 

Can you spill the tea on what the C-drama was? 

Yeah, it's called When I Fly Towards You. I think most people know about it because I posted on Instagram, I said, this song is literally inspired by WIFTY, which is When I Fly Towards You. 

Oh, I love that. I'm not up on my C-dramas like I should be.

It's a really good one, you should check it out. 

It’s interesting to hear about your inspiration from that moment. In this sort of third wave of internet culture, we have people, such as yourself, that exist between online, ancestral history, and your current location of Vancouver. The combination there creates these rich cultural outputs. When you create music, do you feel representative of anything? Or does it just feel like you, the individual? 

I don't really think about that. I feel like when I make music, it is purely my emotion. I never really think about how I resonate with my fans. I always just think about how I can put my emotions out myself and when I do that, I feel like it does resonate with people. I try to just stay true to my own emotions. 

Why do you think you have succeeded in a time when it's very difficult to do so? It feels as though you've found your fan base very early in your career and your output. 

I started with singing covers and I gained a pretty big following doing that. And it all just started from there. 

But a lot of people do that and it doesn't cross over, you know? 

Right, right. That's true. That's true. I feel that it also has to do with my aesthetic. I feel maybe like my physical appearance.

I mean, gorgeous man, but you also have listeners all over the world. Objectively, you're relatively new to writing music, but I’m curious about whether you write music intending to start a “chapter?" Do you have an idea and awareness of where your next chapter is going to go? Is it just the emotions of sitting with a cute girl and you're watching a cool C-drama and it goes from there?

For now, I kind of just go with the flow. That's always what it's been. I didn't have an exact plan or anything. I didn't even know what genre I wanted to make until recently, like this year. This year is when I put out “Wildflower” and “Blue,” which are pretty similar styles. But before that, I was making all kinds of genres, like hyperpop, hip-hop, rock even. Like wow. I didn't exactly have a direction for myself. Just whatever worked. I just went with it.

Do you think we're going to hear any of that in the future?

Possibly possibly. I don't want to stick to the same genre forever. Going from indie to hyperpop is a little crazy. 

Do you have another project on the way?

I have a lot of demos, but not exactly a project. I've been thinking of just putting all these demos into an EP or album. Right now, it's just focusing on making songs and then making them sound good. 

What's writing like for you now that your artist project is developing? Are you working with other people now? 

“Blue” I wrote completely myself. “Wildflower” was completely myself, but I produced with someone. But I’ve realized, I think I just really enjoy writing by myself. I know, at this point, I can write by myself and I know I also can produce by myself and I can mix and engineer stuff. I'm not sure if it's just that I haven't met the right people to work with yet. But for now, when I’m alone, my thoughts just come to me better. 

Yeah, well, it's powerful when you have all those capabilities, right? All those talents, cause it's the ultimate, creative control. 

Yeah, exactly. 

Learning a little bit more about yourself, other than moments in time, what inspires you? 

The main thing is dramas. Even animes, like romance animes. When I watch a really good one, it makes me feel so many things. So many feelings that I don't know if I've ever felt with an actual person. You know what mean? Like, if there's a bunch of exposition in this drama and then finally, episode 30, they kiss or they hug. It's crazy. I guess it's just that feeling that I try to search for, I try to dig for. And for now, that feeling I can only find in dramas. 

I like the way that you put that though. So is it that creation of tension and then finally there’s a resolution? 

Yeah, right. Because if there's a drama that's like the first two episodes, like they just hold hands or they just kiss and there's like a cute moment. Like, it doesn't really hit the same. You don't even know the characters yet. You don't even know the story. So I'm not invested yet. I don't care about these people yet. But if it's later on and I'm so invested in the characters, then it hits.

I love it. What do you do to mellow out, chill, clear your head? 

I play a lot of video games. I play Valorant. Sometimes League. I'm like a Discordian. Like I'm on Discord like 24/7. If I'm not at school, if I'm not outside, I'm on Discord, bro. So yeah, usually I just talk to friends, play games. That's like my main form of relaxation. And I mean, playing music does relax me too. If I just play guitar in my room, sing by myself. But I think talking to friends, that's like the main thing. 

Do you also stream? 

I don't stream. I don't stream, but I've tried. I don't think it's my thing, it doesn't feel very natural for me. Maybe I'm just not experienced, but I tried. I streamed a few times like last year when I was still just only doing covers. But yeah, I realized it's not my thing. 

So outside the house, take us through a perfect day. Where do you go? What do you do? Who do you see?

I guess for me, it's not exactly about the place I go. It’s the people. I go out with my best friends, we go scootering sometimes. Do you know Stanley Park? 

Of course. 

Yeah, I go there a lot with my friends. We just scooter and the wind feels nice. It's a nice reset, I feel like. 

Do you just go along the seawall? 

Yeah, we go along around the sea. We speed run that shit and then have a nice dinner. There's this one restaurant I really like. Do you know... Phnompenh?

I have not been to Vancouver in 10-plus years, so I’m out of touch. 

If you're ever back, you should check it out. It's so good. It's a Cambodian restaurant and has the best wings and beef carpaccio I’ve ever had. 

Well, that sounds like a vibe. If everything works out, where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? 20 years? Are you someone that loves the idea of traveling and touring? Or is it just having the world's best gaming rig and all your friends? 

No, I mean, of course, I don't really want to like game all day. That feels not so productive, but it is fun. I want to keep doing something music-wise. Whether it's making music or maybe one day being an A&R or something. I'm always just going with the flow. Touring sounds cool to me, like live shows, but I always imagine going on a big stage, like a huge-ass stadium, like 10K, 20K people. So I guess that's like a dream, that's the goal. It's also just like, if it happens, it happens. 

Who are your OnesToWatch?

There's this kid that I'm really close with, he's called Nicholas, but his artist name is Asumuh. He’s a 17-year-old, and I think he'll be big one day. He has a really good mindset. There's also this other kid called Evan Pak.