Lil Swag

Damon Zechariah Jae-hyun Tumabcao-Kang (Korean: 강재현; Hanja: 姜宰見) (born September 16, 2004; age 17), better known as Lil Swag, is a Filipino-Randomese rapper known for his hyperactive persona and signature loud style of rapping. He rose to popularity in November 2020 with his debut EP "Arrival", which peaked at number 3 on the Random-ness 200 music chart and was certified three-times platinum and two-times gold. He is currently signed to Random Records.

Early life
Damon Zechariah Jae-hyun Tumabcao-Kang was born on September 16, 2004 in Olongapo, a city located in the Philippines, to Kristoffer John Tumabcao, a Filipino former military soldier, and Kang Hyun-mee (Korean: 강현미; Hanja: 姜絢媄), a Korean-born professional pianist. He has a younger sister named Quinn Maria Estrella Jin-ju (Korean: 강진주; Hanja: 姜珍珠), who was born on June 30, 2006 and is a prominent Randomese child actress.

Tumabcao-Kang spent much of his formative years in Olongapao, where he was regarded as a "class clown" by his friends and teachers. He would frequently get in trouble due to his disruptive antics. Despite this, Tumabcao-Kang consistently received good grades and demonstrated a kind personality toward his peers. According to his mother, he was “always an extremely extroverted, happy kid who always wanted to make people smile and laugh” and “wanted to be friends with everyone”. Many fans theorize that Tumabcao-Kang's public persona is heavily inspired by the rowdy disposition he maintained throughout his childhood.

Soon after he graduated middle school, Tumabcao-Kang and his family moved to the Random Region. At this time, Tumabcao-Kang began to show interest in music and making his own rap songs, seeking out any opportunities he can to can hone his skills. Prior to getting formally involved with the music business, Tumabcao-Kang posted his own freestyles to his now-deleted Soundcloud account, S4DBOYSW4G. In these tracks, he would improvise lyrics over instrumental beats that he made in GarageBand.

Tumabcao-Kang was encouraged to pursue a serious music career by his mother and his high school music teacher.

Tumabcao-Kang chose the stage name "Lil Swag" because in his freshman year, he and his friend were looking at memes on Instagram during class -- one of which had the word "swag" in it -- and he considers it his most vivid memory of his freshman year of high school.

2020: Arrival and The Basement!
Tumabcao-Kang made his official debut on November 1, 2020 at the age of 16 with a mixtape titled “Arrival”, with the song “Dark Energy” as its title track. Other notable songs from the mixtape include the b-sides “Roll With Us” and “Demonic”. The mixtape enjoyed a positive reception from critics and listeners upon release, many of whom cited Tumabcao-Kang’s “energetic screech-rapping” and catchy instrumentals. “Dark Energy” went on to become certified gold in the Random Region, and also charted high in multiple other countries, including America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Not long after in January 2021, Tumabcao-Kang announced that he would be releasing a second mixtape, “The Basement!” some time in February. It would soon be released on January 29th - much earlier than anticipated. Accompanied by the title tracks “Six” and “Social Disease”, this comeback was also met with a positive reception.

2021: GROWING PAINS! and future projects
On June 27, 2021, Tumabcao-Kang released his first studio album, "GROWING PAINS!", with the songs "IN VAIN!", "Attention", and "Frenemy" as its three leading singles. "IN VAIN!" peaked at number 3 on the Random-ness Hot 100, while "Attention" and "Frenemy" peaked at 4 and 7 respectively. The GROWING PAINS! album itself peaked at number 2 on the Random-ness 200 chart and was certified two-times platinum in the Random Region.

Musical influences
Tumabcao-Kang has stated that his musical influences include the likes of shinigami, Lil Peep, Babymetal, Joji, 100 gecs, Lil Mariko, Simple Plan, Sum 41, Machine Gun Kelly, Waterparks, and Lil Important. Tumabcao-Kang is a notable fan of emo rap.

Ancestry
Tumabcao-Kang is of Asian (Filipino and Korean) descent. His Korean name is Kang Jae-hyun (Korean: 강재현; Hanja: 姜宰見).

For a large portion of Tumabcao-Kang's career, there were rumors that he was trilingual and could speak English, Filipino and Korean fluently. He was quick to debunk these rumors in a May 15, 2021 interview; he stated "No, I only speak English. I can only speak basic Filipino and I can't understand Korean [...] that really embarrasses my mom. I do try, though."