Behind the mic: Sacramento’s hip-hop princess Boss Tootie

At the age of six, Tia Young was in the studio one day with her father, Rinn Zee, while he was recording music. 

Young was infatuated with her father's raps and his music and asked if she could record music like him. 

“I went up to him and I asked him, can I record yet? Can I be a superstar? When will I get to share my story and be able to bring joy to others just like you do?” she said. “I want people to listen to my music, so can I give it a try?”

Her father agreed, and she started making music. Today, Young is an 11-year-old musician that makes kid-friendly hip-hop music. She’s known as Boss Tootie, and calls herself “Sacramento’s hip-hop princess.”

She has music on all streaming platforms, her brand called 27916, related to the city's area code, and has done numerous live shows, including performing at the Sacramento County Fair.

The first song Young ever wrote was Daddy's Girl, which was inspired by her love and connection with her father, she said. 

“I just love my dad a lot,” Young said. “I made a song about me and my dad and to support other single fathers or just fathers in general around the whole globe. I feel like mothers are really good, but I feel like dads are pretty underrated.”

Rinn Zee described his daughter’s music as kid-appropriate and competitive. 

“It can enter any industry-standard song that's out there I feel because she has the swag, the delivery, and she's also committed to her bars. You can’t have a good rap song without bars,” he said. 

Courtesy of Rinn Zee

Balancing fame and school

Boss Tootie is in the 5th grade and attends an elementary school in Elk Grove. She said her friends support what she does, and all her friends are her best friends.

Balancing her music career and school isn’t difficult because she has a pretty good schedule that helps balance her life, she said.

“Like my dad says, my school is my top priority,” Young said. “I don't record every single day, because that would probably be way too stressful.” 

Young mentioned that she and one of her classmates will be releasing new music in February.

“I’m not gonna say the title, but yes, I'm still working on a lot of more songs,” she said. “I won't tell you what the idea is, because no spoilers.”

Melodic adventures

Young said the ideas for her songs come from her brain, and what she loves most about making music is that she gets to explore. She also enjoys performing for people.

“It just makes me feel great.” she said. “Any way to make them cheerful, it just makes me feel like I accomplished everything that I needed to.”

One of her goals is to save money to get a better place for her dad when he grows older and also adventure.

“I just want to travel a lot around the globe,” Young said. “Like China, Japan, Great Britain, the UK. Maybe later on in the years, there could be a new planet to discover with people on there, too. So I would probably love to go there too.”

Young is African American and Hmong, and her father said the combination of the two makes her who she is. She has a song called “Say It In Hmong,” in which she talks about being biracial.

“I see her as an inspiration to little girls, to little Black girls, as well as little Hmong girls or any kid or person that's coming from a disenfranchised background or community,” her father, Rinn Zee, said.

Young said that if other kids around her age want to get into music, they should know that they’re going to mess up at times, but they can learn from their mistakes. 

She told CapRadio’s Insight that making a rap song may take a long time, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get.