T - Black Happiness

Originally from Portland, Texas, T or Tasha Reid, is the first female rapper in Korea having debuted in 1997 with her former rap group Uptown and later the rap and r&b group Tashannie.

검은행복 (pronounced: Gum En Heng Bok) or "Black Happiness" is a song about T's struggle for self-acceptance being half-black and half-Korean while living in Korea, where the culture is racially prejudiced against people of dark skin color. This song is from her 4th album entitled 윤미래 (Yoon Mi Rae which is also her Korean name). Prior to her 4th album, T has released As Time Goes by (2001), Gemini (2002), and To My Love (2003). T married Tiger JK of Drunken Tiger in 2007 and they had their first-born son together in March 2008. Other than rapping, T also sings r&b, jazz and blues.

Thanks to doolee10 who posted the youtube video of this song. This video also features the English translation lyrics!

Point Blanc - Ipoh Mali feat. Jaclyn Victor

Ipoh Mali, a term in Malay that means "from Ipoh", is Point Blanc's first single from his newest solo album, Straight to the Point, featuring the Malaysian Idol winner (2004), Jaclyn Victor. This song narrates the turning point in his life when he discovered his calling as a rapper at 16 years old and it describes his trials and tribulations he had to go through to establish his career as a rapper in Malaysia. Also mentioned in this song are many famous landmarks in his hometown, Ipoh, which is also the location where the music video was shot in.

Note: The video production reminds me of One Blood by The Game. You can tell that Point Blanc is a Game fan :)

And just for the heck of it.....here are some other Ipoh mali celebrities that you may be also familiar with:

photo source

Actress Michelle Yeoh who played major roles in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).

Singer/Actor Michael Wong who is famous for his hit single, 童話 (Tong Hua) "Fairy Tale".

Chuckie Akenz - You Got Beef

Chuckie Akenz is a Vietnamese rapper from the Jane and Finch neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. You Got Beef was Chuckie's most controversial hit and it was downloaded all over the world.

With extremely violent lyrics such as "we were born to fuckin fight and we'll leave you in a mess/ the minute u talk u get machetes to your chest/" and seemingly racist remarks such as "if you ain't Viet, son you ain't shiet", You Got Beef sparked a lot of controversy, but through the controversy Chuckie Akenz gained many loyal fans. This video was produced by Paul Nguyen from jane-finch.com, who also directed many of Chuckie Akenz's music videos. Chukie Akenz is releasing a new album with the title From the Beginning. More to cover on this asipiring Asian rapper in the near future.



Note: The black guy with the turquoise jacket is also seen in some scenes in with the Vietnamese mob to illustrate that this video was done for artistic purposes. Some people take the internet waaaay too seriously ;)

Thai Ngo & Khanh Nho - Vietnamese Gang

Vietnamese Gang is classic Vietnamese rap song released in the year 2000 in Thai's debut EP Portland Love. It features both English lyrics by Thai Ngo and Vietnamese lyrics by Khanh Nho. Thai Ngo later released two LPs: Together We Rize in 2003 and My Life and Rhymes in 2007.

Jin - 106 and Park Freestyle Battle

Jin the MC is a Chinese rapper from Miami, Florida that made his claim to fame battling Sean Nicholas on 106 and Park Freestyle Friday. This freestyle battle was his 7th consecutive win and he was inducted in the 106 and Park's Hall of Fame.

Got Rice - The song that started it all....

I remember back in 1998 there was a song circulating on asianavenue called Got Rice. The Got Rice song was made by an anonymous Asian American rapper using the instrumental of the hit single, Changes by Tupac Shakur. I remember back in the day, I would hear the asian kids recite the Got Rice lyrics by heart saying "Got rice bitch? Got rice?". This was truly the song that started it all!