Video: MBNel – Don’t Say

Bay Area rapper, MBNel, returns with his introspective new single “Don’t Say” out now via MUDDY BOYZ/EMPIRE. Born and raised in Stockton, a city in Central California with a busy rap scene, MBNel built a reputation on the West Coast for his combination of hummable melodies and relatable trench tales. On this piano-driven track, we witness the Filipino-American rapper reflect on his come-up, sharing stories from his struggle and contrasting them with his recent success “Designer clothes for all the times I used to borrow clothes/They tried to set the play, I hit that audible.” In the video, we witness Nel taking a break from the grind and indulging in a well-deserved vacation as he jets to London, Amsterdam, and the sunny Cayman Islands with some of his closest friends.

His first new song of the New Year, “Don’t Say” arrives on the road to Started In The South, the Stockton, CA native’s next EP. Arriving during a period of sustained growth from Nel, the new EP finds him reflecting on his success and paying homage to the streets that raised him. The “south” in the EP’s title refers to its position at the bottom of the map–Nel started at the bottom, but he’s quickly emerging from his circumstances off the strength of his authentic anthems.