Lookin’ Back: 10 years of m-flo

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!

#5 m-flo ♥ BoA – the Love Bug
Yes, they did indeed work with that BoA. And the result was a fun dance song that helped cross market the two groups in Japan & Korea and gained them international exposure for the ♥ series. m-flo would go on to work with other KPOP artists like Wheesung but none have been as fruitful as this track. Tell me this song isn’t catchy.

#4 m-flo ♥ monkey majik – Picture Perfect
Monkey Majik is a band that consists of two Canadian brothers as the front men. This song introduced me to them and converted me to a fan. Not to mention I really enjoyed the acoustic/hip-hop sound of the song along with the quirky video.

#3 m-flo ♥ YOSHIKA – Let Go
Yoshika is an r&b singer who has collabed with m-flo a number of times but this one is by far my favorite. She manages to convey so much emotion in this song, and the haunting percussionless instrumental backdrop provides a unique soundscape for Verbal’s raps. To this day I still listen to this song on repeat every once in a while.

#2 L.O.T. (Love or Truth)
This is one of their earliest songs as it was off their debut album Planet Shining. It was the first m-flo song I ever heard and I’ve been a fan ever since. This track is a great r&b/hip-hop song and really showcased former member Lisa’s voice beautifully. It’s funny looking back cause if you check out the video you can see how different Verbal looks back then with the facial hair and beenie. For the longest time this was my favorite m-flo track.

#1 m-flo ♥ melody. & Ryohei – Miss You
This song narrowly beats out L.O.T. as my favorite m-flo track. It’s just the perfect combination of fun, catchy and avant garde. Plus this song is responsible for starting my infatuation with melody. (who recently got married and broke my heart haha) On top of that, the video for this song is nuts! Editing must have been a pain but the final product was completely worth it.

As you can see from my list, songs from the m-flo ♥’s era dominated but I should point out it’s not because I don’t like their earlier catalog of music. It’s just their song from the ♥’s era were so strong and on point. They chose great artists to work with and really mixed up their sounds and styles and brought out the best from their guests. Plus, by this point in their career, m-flo was so well established they could do pretty much anything they wanted, and their creative output skyrocketed. There are a ton of other songs that didn’t make the cut but I had to draw the line somewhere.

So what are your top 5?