A confident young man presents a strong exterior, yet inside he feels depressed and disconnected from the larger culture around him. This stoic champion combines bold, assertive, and popular rap with elements of heavy metal. He skillfully employs various DJing techniques such as short and long echoes, distortion, volume adjustments, and crossfades to guide the listener’s attention to specific moments in his Cultural Identity Audio-Biography (CIAB). Overall, the CIAB captures the sounds and imagery that many young men in the United States use to start their day, boost their motivation, power through workouts, and tune out the world around them. The CIAB opens with a quote from Rafiki, the wise mandrill from *The Lion King.*

Oh yes, the past can hurt… but the way I see it, you can either learn from it or run away from it.

There is a recognition of a painful past with an acceptance of the past. The teen begins with an introduction to Kanye West’s Good Morning Mr. West.

Uh, good morning

Wake up, Mr. West, Mr. West, Mr. Fresh

Mr. by-his-self-he-so-impressed

I mean, damn, did you even see the test

You got D’s motherfucker, D’s, Rosie Perez

And yes, barely pass any and every class

Lookin’ at every ass

Cheated on every test

I guess this is my dissertation

Homie, this shit is basic

Welcome to graduation

Good morning (X4)

Good Morning Mr. West is a song addressing social injustice. However, the teen surprises listeners by only including the song’s opening, which does not reference injustice. Does the teen not see race, or do they not see the struggle of race within their life story?

I Wonder is next. This hip-hop song with an R&B/soul background starts with a piano and concludes with the lyrics –

And I wonder if you know what it means to find your dreams,” with an increase in the volume of the word “dreams” to emphasize the teen’s hopes for the future.

The stoic champion’s CIAB expresses the inner thoughts and emotions of the teen, which many American boys, including Asian American teens, often find difficult to articulate. Stressed Out by twenty-one pilots:

I wish I found some better sounds no one’s ever heard

I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words

I wish I found some chords in an order that is new

I wish I didn’t have to rhyme every time I sang

I was told when I get older, all my fears would shrink

Kanye’s Runaway, which focuses on themes relatable to many American teens when they are alone –

And I wonder if you know

What it means to find your dreams

And I wonder

I’ve been waiting on this my whole life

These dreams be waking me up at night

You say I think I’m never wrong

You know what? Maybe you’re right, aight?

The listener is then brought into a world of American teen males who find school a cesspool of the worst type of males. During the song, the teen plays with the volume. The feeling that people have hurt him has made him stronger, even toasting/thanking /mocking the toxic male adolescent world. The song drips with disdain –

So I think it’s time (so I think it’s time)

For us to have a toast

Let’s have a toast for the douche bags

Let’s have a toast for the assholes

Let’s have a toast for the scumbags

Every one of them that I know

Let’s have a toast for the jerk offs