Morno Skeletonking
[Originally published in MILK Magazine, Mar/Apr '15]
Last time MILK magazine checked in with the Young No Money (YnM) crew in Phnom Penh, we chatted graffiti artist Mike, a friend of the YnM collective and key player in an emerging young skilful and original Khmer street art/rap scene. This issue, we caught up with Morno, one of YnM’s key rappers, who you may recognise fresh from the stage of this season’s Cambodia’s Got Talent. Anyone who’s seen this young wordsmith on YouTube, however, will agree that no TV competition is necessary to prove that this 19-year-old rapper, who may not be shedding $’s, is most certainly teeming with talent.
What is your full name?
Neang Sok Morno
Who is Young No Money and what are the roles of its members?
It has three members in the team. Some rappers, plus a guy who does communications with another guy.
When and how did YnM form?
We first started about seven months ago just because just wanted to make films for Facebook and YouTube, but now we’re taking it more seriously.
Why did you call yourselves ‘Young No Money’?
We just wanted to make the group like a joke name – you know the American team of rappers, Young Money? So we decided to call ourselves Young No Money as a sort of a joke on that. And we call it young no money because we always make the films we make for YouTube using no money or expensive camera or anything, cos all of us don’t have any!
What does YnM plan to do in the future together?
We want to be real rappers , but we just need some extra support to achieve that.
What is your personal dream?
I want to be a rapper, like a professional one, because I like rap, I like the singing. But my dad always says, “No, you can’t. Rapping is just for fun, just for a joke,” and that I need to study hard, that I need to be a lawyer.
Who is your idol or inspiration?
My idol rappers around the world are from Young Money like Lil Wayne, Tyga, Drake, people like that. My idol rapper in Cambodia is DJ Sdey – the king rapper in Cambodia. Even though is an old rapper he’s still rapping.
What do you think of the Khmer rap scene at the moment?
I think the Khmer rap scene is growing right now because there are lots of guys out there interested in it and with lots of talent.
Do you think that some Khmer rappers are ‘Americanized’ in the way they move or the clothes they wear, or do you think most Khmer rappers have a style of their own?
No, I think most of Khmer rappers they have a style of their own, for sure.
How do you feel Cambodian society generally looks upon young rappers and groups like YnM? Do you think some people think you are ‘bad’ or dangerous somehow, purely because of the ‘scene’ of which you are a part?
I think Cambodian society thinks of young rappers and groups like YnM – all our rappers – like they are crazy. I don’t know why. Maybe just because older guys always think of rappers like we have drugs and gangs and we’re not nice, and they don’t like it. But it’s not like that. We just want to sing our songs and talking about wider society, society in Cambodia, and about anything else. But yeh…I think almost all people seem to think we are ‘bad’. And, you know, the rapper is always wearing big clothing, like baggy pants, and they can do graffiti, which lots of people associate with being some kind of a gangster. So that’s why maybe they don’t like it. But for me, for YnM, they’re not the same thing.
What do you rap about?
Now almost always I rap about my life, and I think in the future, I’ll talk more so about society in Cambodia. I don’t want to talk about a love story. That’s like every other song – I don’t want to do that!
Tell me about your time on Cambodia’s Got Talent. Is there anything you think it helped to teach you?
I got though part one and part two of it. I’m really glad that I made it to part three, but that’s where I got cut out. I was really disappointed, but it made me really realise we should be brave, and if we are not brave then it lets all the joy out of it. I think it was about learning not to be nervous, too.
What advice would you give to other young rappers?
I would like to tell other young rapper to stop using drugs, try to study harder and yeh…believe.
Where can we see you perform next?
I think a performance is coming soon, but not sure when. I think maybe I will go to perform on the TV. And our next YouTube video will be out soon. Because we already wrote the songs and we will upload them, maybe one or two, to YouTube. The then during that time I think we’ll get a performance.
To connect with Morno and the Young No Money crew, contact him directly at his Facebook page: Morno Skeletonking.
What is your full name?
Neang Sok Morno
Who is Young No Money and what are the roles of its members?
It has three members in the team. Some rappers, plus a guy who does communications with another guy.
When and how did YnM form?
We first started about seven months ago just because just wanted to make films for Facebook and YouTube, but now we’re taking it more seriously.
Why did you call yourselves ‘Young No Money’?
We just wanted to make the group like a joke name – you know the American team of rappers, Young Money? So we decided to call ourselves Young No Money as a sort of a joke on that. And we call it young no money because we always make the films we make for YouTube using no money or expensive camera or anything, cos all of us don’t have any!
What does YnM plan to do in the future together?
We want to be real rappers , but we just need some extra support to achieve that.
What is your personal dream?
I want to be a rapper, like a professional one, because I like rap, I like the singing. But my dad always says, “No, you can’t. Rapping is just for fun, just for a joke,” and that I need to study hard, that I need to be a lawyer.
Who is your idol or inspiration?
My idol rappers around the world are from Young Money like Lil Wayne, Tyga, Drake, people like that. My idol rapper in Cambodia is DJ Sdey – the king rapper in Cambodia. Even though is an old rapper he’s still rapping.
What do you think of the Khmer rap scene at the moment?
I think the Khmer rap scene is growing right now because there are lots of guys out there interested in it and with lots of talent.
Do you think that some Khmer rappers are ‘Americanized’ in the way they move or the clothes they wear, or do you think most Khmer rappers have a style of their own?
No, I think most of Khmer rappers they have a style of their own, for sure.
How do you feel Cambodian society generally looks upon young rappers and groups like YnM? Do you think some people think you are ‘bad’ or dangerous somehow, purely because of the ‘scene’ of which you are a part?
I think Cambodian society thinks of young rappers and groups like YnM – all our rappers – like they are crazy. I don’t know why. Maybe just because older guys always think of rappers like we have drugs and gangs and we’re not nice, and they don’t like it. But it’s not like that. We just want to sing our songs and talking about wider society, society in Cambodia, and about anything else. But yeh…I think almost all people seem to think we are ‘bad’. And, you know, the rapper is always wearing big clothing, like baggy pants, and they can do graffiti, which lots of people associate with being some kind of a gangster. So that’s why maybe they don’t like it. But for me, for YnM, they’re not the same thing.
What do you rap about?
Now almost always I rap about my life, and I think in the future, I’ll talk more so about society in Cambodia. I don’t want to talk about a love story. That’s like every other song – I don’t want to do that!
Tell me about your time on Cambodia’s Got Talent. Is there anything you think it helped to teach you?
I got though part one and part two of it. I’m really glad that I made it to part three, but that’s where I got cut out. I was really disappointed, but it made me really realise we should be brave, and if we are not brave then it lets all the joy out of it. I think it was about learning not to be nervous, too.
What advice would you give to other young rappers?
I would like to tell other young rapper to stop using drugs, try to study harder and yeh…believe.
Where can we see you perform next?
I think a performance is coming soon, but not sure when. I think maybe I will go to perform on the TV. And our next YouTube video will be out soon. Because we already wrote the songs and we will upload them, maybe one or two, to YouTube. The then during that time I think we’ll get a performance.
To connect with Morno and the Young No Money crew, contact him directly at his Facebook page: Morno Skeletonking.