Allen Fan aka Challenga, was born in New York City Chinatown Manhattan, in 1988. His family are immigrants from Hong Kong which makes him the first generation of Asian American in his family. He moved to Hong Kong shortly after parents divorced and return to New York City in Brooklyn at the age of 9 knowing little English. He started to adapt to the culture by watching Family Matters, The Wayne Brothers, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. When the theme song for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came on, he was instantly hooked to the sound. He picked up his speed by listening to Hip-Hop, reciting lyrics and rapping songs. Hip-Hop drastically changed his life and helped him develop confidence.
Around that time in New York City, 106 & Park and Freestyle Friday’s were the latest news in Hip-Hop which inspired Challenga as well. Challenga had already developed his English fluently after making friends with different backgrounds. From New York to Hong Kong, and back to New York in a time span of 10 years, Allen faced many challenges and many culture shocks. However, he always had Hip-Hop there to help him get through tough times. As life brought him more challenges, he realized that his name Allen is also in the word Challenge. That’s when he chose to live up to his rap name as Challenga.
Challenga later graduated with a B.A degree in Asian American Studies in UC Davis and then moved to Los Angeles to fully pursue his rap career. Challenga competed in Jackin4beats, where he was a top 10 contestant. After ending in top 6 of the competition, he moved to Vancouver Canada because of his family, in 2016.
Since then, Challenga has been working hard on his career and recently released his new EP, “L.O.L (Lust On Loud).” This is a follow up to his 2017 EP, “Money.” Check out the new project below as well as our exclusive Q+A with the rising emcee.
Q: What was the inspiration for the concept of your new EP?
Challenga: “Lust. On. Loud. (L.O.L) … I made William Hung to make people laugh but also as a way to break Asian stereotypes which makes it lustful from a female perspective .. that suits the “Lust ” part of EP title, and humorous at the same time. Canaba was me being creative and adjusting my new home in Vancouver, while trying connect with other provinces to make Canaba .. haha!
“Kush High” is me living my lifestyle, which is consuming a lot of cannabis, preferably through my bong. Both of those songs are the “Loud” part of the title. — I’ll let you figure out the meaning of the “Loud” part, haha….”
Q: Who some of your musical influences?
Challenga: “I grew up in the late 90’s, 00’s so definitely Tupac, Biggie, Big L, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Twista, Cassidy, Fabolous, Jadakiss, DMX, G-Unit. Also DJ Khaled, DJ Drama, and my guy Billionaire B.”
Q: What do you have planned following the release of the EP?
Challenga: “I will be going on my very first tour across Canada starting next month in November, which I’m really excited about.”
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