There’s a version of my story that starts at the top of a 16,000 foot mountain in Kenya, standing in a place most people from South Memphis never imagine they’ll go. But that’s not where the story really begins.
It begins in Memphis. It always begins in Memphis.
I grew up in South Memphis — a neighborhood that doesn’t get celebrated often enough, but one that shaped everything I am. The music I make, the mountains I climb, the mission I live every single day. South Memphis gave me something that no amount of altitude can take away: realness. The kind that can’t be manufactured, can’t be faked, and can’t be bought. The kind that either breaks you or builds you into something the world wasn’t ready for.
For me it built me.
The Music
Yung Expressions wasn’t a name I chose to be flashy. It was a declaration. An expression of everything I was carrying — the weight of where I came from, the clarity I was searching for, and the purpose I was building toward one bar at a time.
My debut project Piece of Mind is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the moment I stopped running from my thoughts and started sitting with them. It’s South Memphis translated into sound — raw, reflective, and rooted in something real. Every track is a chapter. Every verse is a conversation I had with myself at some point in this journey.
My sound lives at the intersection of emotional honesty and resilience. I rap about clarity in chaos because I know what chaos feels like. I rap about self-belief because there were plenty of moments I had to manufacture it from nothing. I rap about progression because standing still was never an option in the environment I came from.
Now signed to Bentley Records on a distribution deal, I’m focused on building a body of work that means something long after the streams stop counting. Strong visuals. Meaningful narratives. Music that reflects elevation and discipline and what it actually looks like to stay true to your path when the world gives you every reason not to.
The Mountain
In 2023 something happened that changed the entire trajectory of my life.
I became part of a climbing team from Memphis Rox — a nonprofit climbing gym right here in South Memphis — and we attempted a 16,000 foot summit on Mount Kenya in Africa. That journey became a documentary called Memphis to the Mountain, now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. It was just nominated for a Sports Emmy.
Let that sink in. A kid from South Memphis. Emmy nomination. Hulu. Disney+.
But here’s what I need Memphis to understand — the mountain wasn’t the point. The mountain was the metaphor. The real story was always about what happens when someone from our community gets access to a space they were never told was made for them. What happens when a door opens that was always supposed to be closed.
It changes everything.
The Mission
I came back from that mountain a different person. And I couldn’t shake one thought — how many kids from South Memphis, from Orange Mound, from Whitehaven, from every neighborhood this city has ever overlooked, will never get that opportunity? Not because they’re not capable. Not because they don’t deserve it. But simply because nobody opened the door.
That’s why I’m personally running a GoFundMe campaign to create real outdoor access and experiences for youth from underserved communities. Not the studio. Not the director. Me. A kid from South Memphis using whatever platform God gave me to make sure the next generation gets further than I did.
This is what Memphis to the Mountain means beyond the film. It’s a movement. And it’s just getting started.
The Impact
People ask me what my impact on Memphis is. I don’t think of it that way. Memphis impacted me first. Everything I give back is just interest on a debt I owe to this city.
But if I’m being honest about what I’m building — it’s a blueprint. A blueprint that says you can come from South Memphis and stand on a mountain in Africa. You can make music that moves people and climb walls that terrify you and tell your story on Hulu and still be the same person you were on those streets. You don’t have to choose between where you come from and where you’re going.
You can be both. You have to be both.
That’s what Yung Expressions represents. That’s what SouthFaceRising — my brand built on resilience and elevation — stands for. That’s what every bar on Piece of Mind is reaching toward.
Memphis made me. The mountain changed me. And I’m coming back for every kid who deserves both.
This blog was written by Mike Lee
Mike Lee, known as Yung Expressions, is a South Memphis native, Hip Hop artist, and the main character of Memphis to the Mountain — an Emmy-nominated documentary now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Signed to Bentley Records, his debut project Piece of Mind is available on all streaming platforms. Through his brand SouthFaceRising and a personal GoFundMe campaign, Mike is dedicated to creating outdoor access and opportunities for youth from underserved communities. Memphis made him. The mountain changed him. Now he’s coming back for the next generation.
