MBNel

Stockton rapper MBNel is finding growing success after the San Francisco 49ers used one of his songs in a hype video.

It’s a mix of different moods and different things I’ve been going through,” Dongon explains about Born To Win.

The success of his new album is coming quickly, and in ways he didn’t expect. During a break in the recording session, Dongon found out that the San Francisco 49ers used his song “Born to Win” in a hype video. He puts the video on and watches the NFL team warm up and take the field buoyed by his own lyrics: “I was born to win, seen it coming as a youngun, remember days when I was struggling and I thought that I’d be nothing.”

“That’s crazy,” Dongon says, trying to hide a smile. “I can’t stop cheesin’.”

Dongon never planned for rap to become his career. A Stockton native, he says he started rapping for fun while a student at Edison High School.

The “MB” in MBNel stands for a few things, all of which are names Dongon and his circle of friends gave themselves. One is Muddy Boyz, from Stockton’s nickname of “Mudville.” Another is “Mattie Boys,” a reference to Mattie Harrell Park which was a regular hangout spot for Dongon and his friends.

“[Mattie Harrell Park] is the first park I ever got shot at, and it wasn’t even me. My friend with me had got into an altercation or something happened,” Dongon explains. He was around 14 years old at the time, and says his reaction to the harsh pops of gunfire was to run away laughing. “We were young and ignorant, so we weren’t thinking nothing too serious of it.”

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