Category Archives: Lookin’ Back
Lookin’ Back: One Vo1ce – “When You Think About Me” (1999)
What were you doing in 1999? If you were the ladies of One Vo1ce, you would have been busy promoting a debut album, Just the Beginning and it’s accompanying single – “When You Think About Me”, a mild hit. Back when R&B girl groups were the craze, it was unique to see a crew of Filipino-Americans from Vallejo, California mixed in with the bunch. A couple years back they re-united to make a come back, but they’ve been relatively quiet – as I’m sure each member has moved with their individual lives, making recording and promotions challenging. It’s just weird to think that this song dropped 12 years ago.
See the ladies of One Vo1ce now on FB.
Lookin’ Back: Smilez & Southstar – “Tell Me”
Our Lookin’ Back section may be a bit sparse, with posts few and far between, but that does’t mean it’s still interesting to take a look at years past and the artists that filled the airwaves once upon a time.
Smilez & Southstar may be one of those Hip-Hop acts that would make you say “Oh yea, name sounds familiar, who was that again”? And I can’t blame you. They had one major label album, Crash the Party, and despite a trio of singles, only one of them really gained any traction – “Tell Me”. This may have been nearly a decade ago, but the song holds up OK for a light, radio-friendly track. I recall seeing the music video come on while I was at my college gym and wondering “wait, is that one dude Asian”? Turns out he is, but I have no idea what Southstar is up to now.
The two artists may be well out of the limelight now, but let’s not forget that Southstar is an Asian-American that dropped a Hip-Hop single on a major label; before even the far more famous Jin.
Lookin’ Back: Chops Voices Over for Nike Ad
In the following grainy clip you’ll see a little nugget from the long-gone VHS era. It’s a Nike ad from a campaign featuring some big names repping for their teams at the time. In this particular clip, Jason Williams from the Sacramento Kings (at the time – circa late 90s) does a little remix of Rapper’s Delight – only it’s not Williams. In fact, the voice you hear is none other than former Mountain Brothers member, Chops. Though he’s not nearly as active on the Mic today, he stays busy behind the boards and this serves as a reminder that the guy can rhyme when called upon.
The ironic part about all of this is the fact that Williams would go on to make some racist remarks in response to some heckling by a few Asian ticket holders. Well either way, it’s still an entertaining glimpse of over a decade ago.
Source: SHA
Lookin’ Back: Lyricks & Manifest – “Gift” (2006)
Time sure flies. “Gift” by Lyricks & Manifest is one of those early videos to go “viral” before viral videos really existed. It was recorded back around 2006 over the instrumental to Eminem’s “When I’m Gone“, and at the time social networking basically included AIM and maybe Xanga and Myspace depending on who you talked to. But this video still got passed along like crazy – especially among the Korean-American youth of the time. It’s kind of funny that both Lyricks & Manifest started off as an early Youtube hit but never really became a staple of the then budding online video site. There are pro’s and con’s to that but regardless the two have been making good music for years now and although they’ve grown as artists, this video is a testament to the strength of their earlier work as well. The two have gone on to form the Beautiful Cycle & SuperNoVA collectives, with Manifest doing his thing overseas with JL & company while Lyricks continues to hold it down stateside. Wow… 2006 seems current but it’s already half a decade ago. It’s fun to Look Back ain’t it?
Lookin’ Back: At Last on America’s Got Talent (2006)
Wow time sure flies. 5 years ago, in the summer of 2006 I vividly remember vegging out in front of the TV (thanks to leg surgery), watching an at-the-time-brand-new-hit-show called America’s Got Talent. To my surprise, a group of Asian-American dudes walked on the screen and absolutely blew everyone away with their “Hip-Hop-apella” rendition of some classic songs.
It was more than enough to get them to the next round, and for good reason. Unfortunately, although they made the finals, their next appearance wasn’t quite enough to make it to the next round. Their harmonies were still tight but some of their solos weren’t as on point, and I think the audience picked up on it too.
Long story short? Thouh they didn’t win the inaugural season of the show, they had won over many new fans (myself included) and gained a lot of exposure. Not too long after, one of the members left the group and they changed management to be the newly christened Tatum Jones. Unfortunately they haven’t been too active as of late but I’m hoping 2011 will be the year that changes… at last.
Lookin’ Back: Utada Hikaru – “Easy Breezy” (2004)
I can’t believe seven years has passed since Utada Hikaru‘s US debut, “Easy Breezy” off her album Exodus. By this point in her career Utada was already an extremely successful pop star in Japan, and her partnership with Island Def Jam for her US debut held a lot of promise and anticipation for a lot of fans. Unfortunately (in my opinion), this was her first single and it was… underwhelming… to say the least. It just came off as misguided and ill advised, ultimately culminating in disappointing record sales and negligible impact on the industry. This would prove to be the pattern for many a miss-start for Asian artists attempting to cross over into the US industry in the years to follow (Se7en, BoA, etc), and even know, nearly a decade later is still an issue that many artists struggle with. Even with Utada’s extremely strong comeback single a couple years ago (“Come Back to Me“), she failed to garner main stream success here in the states. At least progress is being made, albeit slowly.
Lookin’ Back: DJ Honda x Mos Def – “Travellin’ Man”
Wow, I can’t believe this track is 13 years old. Some of our youngest readers may not have even been born yet when this song dropped! Anyway it’s a Hip-Hop classic featuring DJ Honda and Mos Def called “Travellin’ Man” off of Honda’s 2nd album h2 (1998!). This song was a world-wide hit in Hip-Hop circles and makes me nostalgic for that old school rap before Mos started acting. DJ Honda is a long time veteran and for good reason. Tell me this isn’t a dope song! They hardly make ‘em like this anymore.
Lookin’ Back: Mountain Brothers – “Love Poetry” [Free DL]
This isnt the first time we’ve looked back through the years and shared a little Mountain Brothers with you. But we thought it’d be especially appropriate to share this skit track titled “Love Poetry” from their debut album 12 years ago, in 1999. It’s completely tongue in cheek and borderline stupid… but borderline awesome as well. Just take a look at the lyrics after the jump! I really miss their music. At least Chops is still doin his thing!
You can DL it for free here.
Lookin’ Back: Complex Mag Features “8 Pioneers In Asian-American Hip-Hop”
In lieu of the historical success by the Far East Movement with their single “Like a G6″ and recently released album, Complex has put together a little feature article on who they consider 8 Pioneers in Asian-American Hip-Hop. In no way is this to be considered a definitive list, but it’s a great read on some of the names and faces who have come before and have contributed to the genre in some way, shape, or form. The artists featured are Fresh Kid Ice, Lin Que, Lyrics Born, Mountain Brothers, Mike Shinoda, Jin, Southstar, Apl.de.Ap. There have definitely been other artists across multiple genres and ethnicities that have inspired FM, but it’s always good to look back and see who have come before. Check the complete article out over at CM.
Source: AAM
Lookin’ Back: Jin – Senorita
I was abroad for a business trip this week and found myself with a layover in Miami and funny enough, this one phrase kept repeating in my head “We in the m-i m-i, mami, am i am i” and I couldn’t recall where it’s from. Then it struck me, it’s from Jin’s single “Senorita” off his debut album! It’s already been 6 years since Jin’s major label debut with Ruff Ryders, and a whole lot has changed for Jin since then. He’s grown a lot since this song, musically, lyrically, and perhaps most relevantly, spiritually – so I doubt he’d ever do a track like this again. The song wasn’t great, and had very little impact but it was a reflection of a younger Jin with different priorities. But I can’t say it’s not moderately catchy!
*Note: I believe FM makes a cameo in the video, though they aren’t really visible. If memory serves me correctly they are in the background of the beach party scene at the end.
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