Trigger warning: Sexual assault
YG is doing his part to dispel the taboo stigmas of sexual abuse and the toll it can have on victims, especially Black men. May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, and the topic is one that the Compton rapper has been coming to terms with, as evidenced in his new music.
In March, he released a new single, “2004.” The track was produced by DJ Swish, Ya Boy N.O.I.S., and Smokey Beatz and features Budy & The Gang. On it, YG raps, “When I was young, I got raped by a b**ch twice my age/ Picked me up from school to meet at hers and got laid/ Ever since that day, I never looked at s**t the same/ F**ked up in the brain, p**sy what I blame.” He shared that the woman was 30, and he was 14 when it began.
In California, the law defines statutory rape as a sexual encounter between an adult and a person under the age of 18. The crime is punishable by varying jail and prison sentences and thousands of dollars in fines. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, almost 1 in 4 male victims experienced the trauma when they were between the ages of 11 and 17.
By the second verse, he is grappling with the fact that his friends thought the encounter was “exotic.” In the lyrics, he admits, “Got took advantage of and I liked it, so what?/ Y’all call that sex abuse s**t/ I just thought she was doin’ some cool s**t.” He continues later, “No access to my heart, I give no passage/ A b**ch took advantage of me, I ain’t go no trust/ The b**ch took advantage of me, I ain’t give no f**ks.”
“2004” is a part of YG’s “coming of age” era, reflected in his upcoming album, The Gentleman’s Club
In an interview with ABC News, the “Who Do You Love” hitmaker said he was inspired to dig deep into his vaults of truth by producer J. LBS. “He [was] like, ‘You gotta talk about something you ain’t never talked about. You gotta dig deep! What’s something that you ain’t never told somebody?’” Thinking about that question led him to the realization that he had been raped.
YG hopes the song will inspire others to share their stories without fear of judgment. It is featured on his upcoming album, The Gentleman’s Club, due out this summer. “Ninety percent of the people that I played it for — the men, the males — they all got similar stories. That was the conversation everyone was having … For us, we’re men, so it ain’t treated the same way,” he said. The rollout for the upcoming LP began in late March. It is his first body of work since 2024’s Just Re’d Up 3.