Expat rapper Lucas Scibetta (a.k.a. Skibs), who shot to infamy with his privilege-loaded song “Hong Kong Kids” in 2012, is back on our radar after his crappy attempt at Cantonese sparked widespread derision from local netizens.
To promote his latest song, which is inexplicably named after the Harry Potter character Draco Malfoy, the 21-year-old released a snippet of the track on Wednesday morning:
In the video, which opens with him repeatedly droning, “Draco Malfoy, Draco, Draco Malfoy”, Scibetta can be heard rapping in what sounds like gibberish, but is apparently (mispronounced) Cantonese. Unfortunately it seems that the fluent Cantonese speakers in and around Coconuts HK’s office just aren’t on Skibs’ level, as we couldn’t decipher more than a few words… and it seems we’re not alone, judging by the comments section.
One of the commenters said the clip “sucked ass”. “My granny don’t rap but if she tried she would do a better job than you,” he added. “I couldn’t understand a thing. Is it Cantonese or English?” someone asked in Chinese. “You are rapping Cantonese but it sounds like English to me,” another said. One person called Scibetta the “white William Hung”, in reference to the guy who went on American Idol and butchered Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs”.
One netizen shared a meme saying the US government’s “top cryptologists” were trying to figure out “what the fuck [Skibs] said”.
Chun Tung via Facebook
Other more tactful netizens suggested Skibs just stick to English on future tracks, which is much more diplomatic than the person who said, “not even Canto diu lei Skibs”.
Thankfully, Facebook user Tsz Hong To, who we assume is a very accomplished interpreter, very kindly transcribed the lyrics in the comments. Not to be dramatic, but we imagine that the people who discovered the Rosetta Stone felt much the same when they realised they would finally be able to decipher hieroglyphs.
Thanks to Tsz, we now know that Skibs was in fact saying:
“Gettin’ pussy get in Play, working hard in bed every day / I fuck Kong girls every day, since my Stanley Market days / I won’t give up, I’m laughing until the end / Like a movie, I’m laughing until the end / I won’t give up, not in any way / Gwailo speaking Cantonese, really fucking insane, it’s actually really easy, what’s so special about it?”
Yeah, we’d take gibberish over that. We assume he didn’t use Google Translate, based on some of the Hong Kong-specific slang (like “好撚好撚癲”/”really fucking insane”), but can’t imagine how awkward it was for his Canto-speaking friends to actually try to teach him that.
To our horror/delight, Skibs released the full “Draco Malfoy” track this morning, which also includes a fun Japanese interlude. We sent the track to a Japanese-speaking acquaintance, who picked out the phrases “my world is always cherished”, “all my bitches are cute”, “all my bitches are expensive”, and “you’re inside my heart”, which just makes it sounds like Skibs has a lot of pedigree female dogs.
Scibetta first caught local attention five years ago, when he released a track called “Hong Kong Kids” as a fresh-faced 16-year-old international school student, featuring struggle bars about smoking weed and underage drinking over a catchy hook ripped from American electronica duo Ratatat. (“Don’t get me wrong about this Hong Kong lifestyle / Going out every night, it can get quite wild” just isn’t that great, is it?)
It sparked controversy and (in this author’s opinion, justified) accusations of privilege, but led to the teen collaborating with local homeware store G.O.D. and performing as Pharrell Williams’ opening act at BLOHK PARTY festival, so what do we know.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
