YG & Buddy’s ‘2004’ Video Is Confessional And Therapeutic

Over the past few of his releases, Compton rapper YG has gotten more comfortable with the idea of vulnerability in his music. His latest release, though, takes things even further. Here’s where I must add a trigger warning for descriptions of child sexual abuse. Sorry.

In his confessional new song, “2004” featuring fellow Comptonite Buddy, YG admits that he was the victim of statutory rape at just 14 years old, at the hands of a girlfriend’s older relative, a woman twice his age.

Over the course of the song’s three verses, YG recounts his encounters with this older woman, admitting that as he got older, he knew such experiences weren’t normal. Unfortunately, at the time, the friends he told about his experience were also too young to understand the “f*cked up” dynamic, causing him to withdraw into himself and making it difficult for him to trust women. It’s a story we hear all too often, and yet, not often enough to change the perception of such stories when we do hear them — as demonstrated by YG’s friends’ reactions.

In the video, YG delivers the tale to his therapist, while Buddy comes in to sing the hook. Some of the scenes are re-enacted in flashbacks illustrating the traumatic experience. You can watch the video above.