Day Sulan definitely isn’t the first female rapper to have gotten their start from stripping, but she can say she was acknowledged by multi-platinum rapper YG last year while working at popular L.A. hangout Crazy Girls.
Fast forward to the present day, the 22-year-old starlet is the First Lady of his record label, 4HUNNID.
Welcomed into the newly-joint partnership with Epic Records, and gaining millions of streams, the African-American and Vietnamese rapper made her real debut on “Her Story,” which was off of YG’s 2019 project 4Real 4Real. The album shot to No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200, giving her industry experience. More recently, she teamed up with fellow hottie Rubi Rose for her single “Big” which is projected to be on her upcoming debut album.
In an interview with HipHopDX, the “Mascara” rapstress spoke about how embracing her stripper past has actually helped her rap-career to date, amongst other hot topics in another upcoming interview.
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Scrolling through her Instagram you will see her building her upper-body strength on her pole in her living room, getting her angles right for her photos, promoting her music, and voicing her opinions on social injustice. “I’ve been doing a lot of pole work for sure!” Day Sulan tells DX. “It’s just a way to stay fit but actually I’ve been exercising like crazy. I’ve also been doing art … I’ve been painting, writing poetry … I also been in the studio still making music – and getting fucked up, you know?”
Like many artists, finding ways to keep their music pushing despite no touring, club appearances, or physical press runs, has become an innovative effort. From live concerts on Instagram to holding Zoom press runs, artists and their teams are forced to become creative in how they manage the music if they want to stay afloat.
“Music is what I love,” Day Sulan expressed. “So when times are hard and times are a little weirder like they are right now, I kind of just lock myself in the studio and that’s the best place for me to be because mentally that’s where I’m always at. For me to keep pushing on my music, it’s not hard at all. It’s not even like a job to me. I just want to let people know yeah I’m still working on my shit. I’m still dropping shit for people. Just as the world kind of stopped doesn’t mean everything got to stop.”
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Having only been officially in the game for a year and a half, so much has happened for her in such a short time. Coming from an all-too-familiar past as a stripper trying to make it out of the clubs, Day Sulan’s talents spoke more for her than her pole-ability. “When I first started music, my original manager linked me with [YG] and from there, he saw something in me at the time,” she recalls. “I didn’t see that same shit in myself but he saw something in me to where he pushed me … he invested in me and he really guided me as an artist. It really helped me out in this music shit as to where now I got the deal. Now we got the 4HUNNID-Epic deal. We can finally drop singles … we can get moving. It all happened so crazy because I was literally living a life that was so opposite right before this.”
Day Sulan will be another female rapper that contributes to that world of music where confident, sexy, and bossy lyrics are beloved and celebrated by women who love to feel that way. Rapstresses who have paved this lane like Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, Foxy Brown, and Trina to newcomers like Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, City Girls, and Kash Doll have all contributed to making music for all kinds of women. However, confidence wasn’t always something that Day Sulan possessed.
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“My confidence came from learning how to love myself,” she shared. “When I was younger, I grew up in a family with a bunch of people who never loved themselves and didn’t know how to love anyone else. They were all kind of selfish and they had their own demons that they were dealing with. I never wanted to be like that. I actually wanted to be the complete opposite, and I made it a thing in my head, even though I felt a sadness, I never wanted to take it out on other people.
“So for me, when I learned how to love myself is really when my confidence went up. Its when I was able to really walk in the room with my head up regardless of the flaws I have. I learned how to accept all of them because, at the end of the day, nobody’s going to take care of you and love you more than yourself.”
Being a beautiful and talented rapper can be bittersweet, especially being a part of an all-male squad like 4HUNNID. It can be easy to have real lyrical talent overlooked by sex appeal and beauty. Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim are some of the greatest examples of demanding respect for their sex appeal and lyrical skill.
“That’s when the music is going to talk for me, because yes it’s going to be hard being that sex appeal is a big part of it, especially in this industry,” she says confidently.
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“But that’s not so much of a problem for me because I am a sensual person. So it’s not like I’m portraying something that I’m not. It’s not like they’re telling me, ‘Oh, wear this, wear that.’ I have a great team whereas I have a voice in everything that I do. It’s not like I’m just getting run over by the industry. I have a voice and I love my team even though it is in a way, male-dominated, but there are always women around me too.”
Day Sulan’s “Big” video featuring Rubi Rose is nearly at a million views on YouTube. Check it out below. Follow Day Sulan on Instagram for more updates.
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