Category Archives: Lookin’ Back

Lookin’ Back: Complex Mag Features “8 Pioneers In Asian-American Hip-Hop”

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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

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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.

Lookin’ Back: Gerry Woo – “How Long”

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Although it’s rare to hear about an Asian or Asian American penetrating the Billboard charts with any sort of mainstream success, the Wonder Girls, the Far East Movement or even Jin were definitely not the first ones to do it. In fact, even in 1987, a young Filipino kid by the name of Gerry Woo was on the airwaves with a number of singles after winning Star Search and landing a record deal. His career wasn’t exactly long lived as he quickly faded away before re-appearing as Harlemm Lee in 2K3 and winning the reality TV competition Fame on NBC, only to vanish just as quickly.

Regardless, it’s folks like Gerry that helped lay some of the ground work yesterday for the artists of today. Mr. Woo – we thank you. You can watch his music video for “How Long” below, in all it’s 80′s glory.

You can read a little more about him over at AARisings.

Lookin’ Back: The Top 10 Asian American Tracks From The Decade

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Image Credit: mtv IGGY

2009 is quickling coming to an end and as part of my guest blogging gig at mtv IGGY I was asked to compile a list highlighting what I considered the top 10 tracks of the past decade by Asian Amercan artists. It took a lot of debate and even now I’m not 100% satisfied with my list by regardless I stand by it. This is just a repost of the mtv IGGY article with some minor edits but without further ado I present to you my Top 10 Asian American Tracks From The Decade.

Let me start off this list by saying it was nearly impossible to try and pick my top 10 favorite songs by Asian American artists from the past 10 years. One reason being, I didn’t really follow the scene heavily until a couple years into the decade and even then the pickings were a bit slim at the time. Also, I’ve opted to go for my personal favorite songs that have stood the test of time, and not just the most influential. Keep in mind this is a list of top 10 songs, not artists. That would have been a similar but still different list altogether. Lastly, I’ve decided to stick strictly with Asian-American artists meaning UK import Jay Sean didn’t make the cut despite how much I love ‘Down’. All I can say is, it’s been really exciting to see more and more Asian American artists make a name for themselves in the industry and I can only imagine next decade’s top 10 will be exponentially more difficult to sort out. As with any list there’s going to be some consensus and some disagreement but without further ado I present to you my top 10 from 2000 to 2009.

Read on for the list!

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Lookin’ Back: 1TYM x J Cover ‘Thank God I Found You (Make It Last Remix)’

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This is one of my favorite covers from back in the day. Korean American come KPOP stars Teddy & Danny of 1TYM and J did a special stage collab where they covered the song ‘Thank God I Found You (Make It Last Remix)’ by Mariah Carey x Joe x Nas.

I remember loving this as they brought a little bit of their home western flavor to a very poppy sounding industry back then. In hindsight the performance wasn’t perfect, but its still just as entertaining.

Lookin’ Back: Lyricks vs Lyraflip @ Kollaboration 2K5

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With the Asian Hip-Hop Summit tour in full swing and the gathering of Asian-American MC’s from all over I thought it’d be fun to take a look back to over 4 years ago where two prominent figures of today’s Summit battled it out for yesterday’s pride.

Check this oldie battle from the 2005 Kollaboration competition where Lyricks & Lyraflip competed in an old-fashioned freestyle battle. You may know em now, but did you know em back then?

Lookin’ Back: SOLID

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Oh man so this brings back memories. In the early/mid 90′s three korean americans became one of the first r&b sensations in Korea as the group SOLID. The were pretty influential in helpling break down some of the attitudes native Koreans had towards “kyopos”, Koreans raised abroad. In a sense, they helped spearhead what I call the reverse crossover to korea. Over a decade later, the members have gone on to pursue other interesteds but recently Lee Joon was interviewed by KBS World Radio. (Source: Bump This) It’s crazy to hear his voice after all these years, I just remember him having random guest rap features on different albums and compilations. Oh yea and there was that ill fated collaboration w/ Uptown: Soultown… which didnt do so well.

There are rumors of a comeback from the group (if Roo’Ra can attempt it, why not?) I’m not so sure it would work out but regardless after the break catch a couple of my favorite SOLID songs courtesy of youtube =) and remember the good ol days.

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Lookin’ Back: 10 years of m-flo

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ARW recently had a post up about m-flo’s 10 yr anniversary and it made me stop in my tracks to realize its been a decade since their debut. 10 flippin’ years.

If you don’t already know who m-flo is then check wikipedia cause there is just too much to explain. Long story short they are one of the most influential, best selling, and innovative groups in JPOP history. The group consists of producer Taku & MC Verbal (who is of korean descent but grew up in Japan and studied in the states). They have worked with artists all over the world including Chan & BoA (and to an extent Kanye). And their sound has had a huge influence on me both as an artist and as a music listener.

To show my appreciation I thought I’d share my top 5 m-flo songs. Thankfully, they made it easier by uploading all the videos to youtube =). So without further ado, catch my top 5 after the jump!

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Lookin’ Back: CoCo Lee – Do You Want My Love

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Before all these artists started trying to cross over to the US after huge success in their home countries (BoA, Se7en, Wonder Girls, Utada Hikaru, etc), CoCo Lee tried to do it 10 years ago.

Although she tried to channel her best 90′s inner J.Lo with her album ‘Just No Other Way’, major success never happened for her. A couple years later the western audience got another dose when she sang the theme for the hit film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In my opinion she had two huge detractors that resulted in her non-start of a career in the US.

1) Her label was too hesitant in giving her proper backing. The music and presentation is too generic and the marketing push was nearly non-existent. The only thing that made her stood out and it was the fact that she was asian… which leads me to the next point.
2) She was asian. A lot can happen in 10 years, and while the yellow community is still facing the same struggles, I imagine some of the tensions and predicaments with trying to break cultural barriers have eased somewhat.

Regardless, Ms Lee deserves her props for making the effort… and although she’s active only in Asia now, today’s stars with similar aspirations can learn from her journey.