Asian hip-hop / pop artist Star2 just dropped his new album Lessons, a powerful new project written as a personal letter to his younger self. A Thai refugee and a driving force in the Ka-ren music community, this collection of tracks rings with an international heartbeat. The album features a dynamic lineup of collaborators including Eh La, Lil BK, heartbreaka, Shadow, RayRay, Lian2x, and more. Each voice brings a new emotional layer – from smooth melodies to street grit to culturally rich textures – making the project both deeply personal and globally resonant.
Lessons is about transforming the chaos, heartbreak, and temptations of his teenage years into a blueprint for growth, focus, and self-love. Across the project, he confronts past mistakes with raw honesty and hard-earned confidence, inviting listeners into a journey from distraction to purpose, from instant highs to long-term vision. The standout focus track, “Ohhhh!” with Lil BK, pairs hypnotic production and cinematic visuals with a message that shines through the flex: success and luxury mean nothing without real love and the people who truly stay by your side. Star2 confides, “As you get older you learn to focus and prioritize and to sacrifice. You learn to love yourself first and stop chasing love and stop chasing people who are not for you. I would tell my younger self, ‘Never give up on your dreams. Stop chasing: love, people, quick money. Instead, chase your dreams and your best life.’ Finally, love is a process. Sometimes we have to move on. Sometimes love comes later. Life teaches us to be patient. Which is possibly the biggest lesson of all.”
Star2’s story is one of survival and triumph. After the Burmese Army destroyed his village, killing both his parents, he and his grandmother came to San Diego through a lottery, confronting extreme poverty while starting over. Music became his anchor, a way to channel grief into purpose. Today, that resilience has led to collaborations with Soulja Boy, $tupid Young, Mozzy, MBNel, Luh Kel, Lil Poppa, HoodTrophy Bino, YSN Flow, and MarMar Oso, and more than 15 million views on TikTok.
