Chinese-Indonesian rapper Rich Brian released his second LP The Sailor via 88rising in July, and this past Monday he performed the first show on the Sailor Tour at Terminal 5 in New York City, with a surprising special guest in attendance: Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
An iPhone video posted on the Andrew Yang 2020 YouTube page captures the moment Yang came onstage to give an impromptu speech. “It feels like there’s a fucking Yang Gang here tonight,” the Asian-American candidate told the crowd who chanted his name. Rich Brian noted that he cannot vote for Yang because he’s not an American citizen (or maybe because Yang shouldn’t be running at this point, since he’s most likely not going to win and we have to stop screwing around and focus on throwing support behind candidates who will beat Trump) to which Yang responded, “this man is American in spirit, am I right?”
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Yang will be joining fellow Democratic candidates and viable options like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and, sigh, Joe Biden for the presidential debate on November 20. Yang’s bid for office thus far has been playful and good-natured, not to mention rather unorthodox; one of his campaign promises includes universal basic income, a plan in which every American citizen would be given a thousand dollars per month.
Yang and Brian aren’t so different: Yang has been dubbed “the internet’s favorite candidate” because of his devoted online following, and Brian rose to prominence on Vine and YouTube and had a viral debut single come out via SoundCloud. The internet is a powerful tool in 2019, and both fellows wield it skillfully.
Watch the concert video below.
