m-flo - Been So Long

m-flo - Planet Shining

m-flo is a unique band which combines Japanese pop with hip hop and R&B. The original band members were Verbal the rapper, Lisa who provided the vocals and DJ Taku who provided the instrumental beats. Verbal is a Zainichi (which means he is an ethnic Korean that lives in Japan), Lisa is of Japanese and Afro-Colombian descent and DJ Taku is Japanese. In 2002, Lisa has left m-flo to pursue her solo career. After Lisa's departure, m-flo began its m-flo loves.... series which is a collaboration series with popular Japanese and Korean singers. m-flo has released 5 albums up to date: Planet Shining (2000), Expo Expo (2001), Astromantic (2004), Beat Space Nine (2005) and Cosmic Color (2007).

Been So Long is one of the earlier hit songs from m-flo. This song is about the pain that is that comes with broken relationship. Been So Long is from m-flo's debut album Planet Shining.

Dog G - Taiwan Song

Dog G -Lotus from the Tongue

大支 or "Dog G" is a Taiwanese rapper from Tainan, Taiwan. Dog G raps in the Taiwanese Min Nan dialect, which is the native dialect in Taiwan. Dog G is known to be very outspoken for being pro-Taiwanese.

Dog G's most popular and controversial song is called Taiwan Song. In this song, Dog G raps about being proud of his Taiwanese culture and Taiwanese identity. Because of the cultural assertiveness of Taiwan Song, Dog G gained a lot of media exposure in Taiwan and many Taiwanese fans. This song was even mentioned in a Time Magazine article about Taiwan's political situation called What Taiwan Wants. In the article, some of the lyrics of Taiwan Song were translated as "Those without the fear of losing, they are the true spirit of Taiwan; those who don't agree, get out!". This song is from Dog G's Lotus from the Tongue album released in 2002.

Flowsik - I'm Nice

Flowsik - Jay Pak Flow Sik Mixtape
Ice-T's newest protege Flowsik drops some heavy lyricism in his song, I'm Nice. This song is featured on Ice-T's myspace. I'm Nice can be found on the Jay Pak Flowsik Mixtape.

Jay Chou - Huo Yuan Jia

Jay Chou - Huo Yuan Jia

周杰伦 or Jay Chou is one of Taiwan's biggest pop superstars. He performs many different genres music and fuses of music such as rock, R&B, pop and rap and Chinese-esque music known as "Zhong Guo Feng". Jay Chou has released 8 studio albums up to date: Jay(2000), Fantasy (2001), Eight Dimensions (2002), Ye Hui Mei (2003), Common Jasmin Orange (2004), November's Chopin (2005), Still Fantasy (2006), On the Run (2007), and Capricorn (2008).

The song Huo Yuan Jia is about a 19th century martial artist from China that became famous by challenging foreign fighters during the time when China fell to foreign powers. This was the theme song to the movie Fearless starring Jet Li which was loosely based on Huo Yuan Jia's life. The song and instrumental is very China-esque. It features Jay Chou rapping and singing in a falsetto voice. The music video is very well done and you can see some scenes from Fearless and see Jay Chou's unique kung fu dance choreography. The song is from Jay Chou's 2006 EP with the same title, Huo Yuan Jia.

Gloc-9 - Simpleng Tao

Gloc-9 - G9
Gloc-9 is one of the most popular rappers in the Philippines and he is known for his fast rapping ability and his conscious rap lyrics. He was a former member of the Filipino gangsta rap group Death Threat. Gloc-9 used to perform gangster rap with Death Threat but in his solo career, Gloc-9 has been a conscious rapper. Gloc-9 has 3 solo albums currently released: G9 (2003), Ako Si… (2005), and Diploma (2007).

Simpleng Tao means "Simple Guy" in English. This song is about Gloc-9 expressing his love to his woman. In the song he raps about that he does not have much but he will brag about his love for his woman. Simpleng Tao is from Gloc-9's debut album: G9. This was one of Gloc-9's biggest hit in 2004.

Urban Xchange - I Wanna Be Like Jackie Chan

Rush Hour 2 OST
The Urban Xchange is a hip hop group from Singapore that performs a mix of hip hop, R&B and pop. The group itself has 5 members: Trisno, Vanessa, Terry, Munir and Firdaus. They have released two albums: How Did We Get Here? in 2001 and Urban Xchange in 2002 before disbanding.

The song, I Wanna Be Like Jackie Chan is a song about a pipe dream wishing they could be action heroes in kung fu flicks just like Jackie Chan. This song is from the How Did we Get Here? album as well featured in the Asian release of Rush Hour 2 OST.

Slant Eyed Descendants - ReBirth

Slant Eyed Descendants

The Slant Eyed Descendants or SED is an Asian American rap group formed in 1998 by two Asian rappers: Menace and Rebel-E from Los Angeles, California. The name Slant Eyed Descendants comes from the stereotype that Asians have small eyes that "slant". Menace is Okinawan/Japanese and Rebel-E is Korean American. Their style is heavily influenced by west coast gangsta rap. They have released two EPs The Struggle and Snake. They are no longer active in the Asian rap scene.

The song ReBirth is about making a positive changes in oneself amidst the turmoil. Everyone goes through a time period in their life when they feel as if they are walking in darkness and need to get some better direction. Personally, I am really feelin this song because right now I am going through some personal issues myself and this song expresses the thoughts and emotions going through my head.

Both EPs by Slant Eyed Descendants is free for download.

You can download The Struggle from rapstation and Snake from soundclick.

Drunken Tiger Interview in English (1999)

Here is an old interview with MVH and Korean rap group Drunken Tiger from 1999. MVH is a Korean-American TV show that plays Korean music videos and reports updates on the Korean entertainment industry. Both members of Drunken Tiger talked about the obstacles they faced trying to break in to the Korean entertainment industry because most Koreans, at that time largely did not understand what hip hop culture was all about. This interview took place when Drunken Tiger's popularity was skyrocketing after the release of their first album, The Year of the Tiger in 1998.

Bambu: Artist of the Week on HHO

Bambu - ...Exact Change...

Congratulations to Filipino rapper, Bambu for being featured as the Artist of the Week on Hip Hip Official on November 05, 2008!

Bambu grew up in the Watts district of Los Angeles, California and he was invovled in "gang-banging" around the early 90s. Gang-banging lead him to a prison sentence for armed robbery. After Bambu got out of jail, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and after he got out, he decided to persue rapping. Bambu became part of a an Asian American rap group known as Native Guns which also included Kiwi and DJ Phatrick. In the inteview Bambu talks about his new solo album called ...Exact Change.... released on September, 11 2008, which is about making a specific change about the current system that is not working for Americans. Bambu also mentions about the youth and student group he is a part of called Kabataang maka-Bayan (KmB) or Pro-People Youth which aims to educate the youth about socio-economic issues in the United States, The Phillipines and the rest of the world.

Jin - Dor Jea (Thank You)

Corrina, Jin and Jaeson Ma with some fans
Jin the MC has a new song called Dor Jea (Chinese: 多謝), which means Thank You in English. In this song, Jin raps about being thankful for his life. Featured in this song is Jaeson Ma, who is also an Asian rapper himself from the rap group Namesake and Corrina, who is singing the chorus. Dor Jea is a promotion for the award-winning movie Bella, which is a movie that deals with the issue of abortion. The lyrics of Dor Jea can be found on the Bella Hong Kong website.


You can also watch the live version of Dor Jea with Jin, Corinna and Jaeson Ma. This live performance was held at the Hong Kong premiere of Bella at HK Time Square.

Dor Jea can be downloded for free at http://www.box.net/shared/r0sdm3zd63

Chuckie Akenz - Music is My Life

Music is My Life is a TV show in Canada that features young Canadians talking about how music has touched their lives whether it helped them through bad times or whether it provided the motivation for them to achieve a goal. In this episode, Vietnamese rapper Chuckie Akenz talks about how music has played a integral role in his life. Chuckie Akenz talks about how he related to the music of rappers such as Tupac and DMX. Also Chuckie Akenz gives a glimpse of his upbringing and personal life living in the Jane and Finch community in Toronto. This video was aired on MuchMusic on January 22, 2007.



The song by Chuckie Akenz that was featured in the TV show is also called Music is My Life. This song is about how music was always there for him even through difficult times. This song is the first single of Chuckie Akenz's From the Beginning Album which has not been released yet. Compared to his earlier songs such as You Got Beef and My Heart, this song reflects a much more mature Chuckie Akenz. I like the chorus of the song a lot. The chorus seems Tupac-inspired to me, but nevertheless I think its a very heart-felt chorus. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

And as the world starts changing/
I feel life rearranging/
How can they know my troubles/
If they can't see my struggle/
And as the world starts changing/
I feel life rearranging/
What gets me through this life/
One thing because music is my life/

CB Mass - Real (For the Club)

CB MASS - MassMediah
CB Mass was a popular rap group in Korea that has disbanded since their last album. It consisted of Choiza, Curbin, and Gaeko. They had three albums released, MassMediah in 2000, MassMatics in 2001 and MassMedia in 2003. Because of a money scandal Curbin is no longer rapping. Now Choiza and Gaeko formed a new Korean rap group named together named Dynamic Duo.

The song 진짜 (pronounced JinJa) or Real in English is a club-banger track from the MassMediah album. Real uses the sample of Cherlyn Lynn's disco classic, Got to be Real for the instrumental. In this music video it features cameo appearances from members of The Movement, which is an alliance of Korean hip hop rappers that Drunken Tiger is a part of.

Joe Flizzow interview on Latte@8

Joe Flizzow
As reported in Joe Flizzow's blog, Joe had a recent interview in a talk show called Latte@8. In this interview Joe Flizzow talks about how he got into rapping and talks about career with Malaysian rap group, Too Phat. Joe Flizzow also talks about his new record label, Kartel Records and what is in store from his new solo album, The President. The new album will have 15 songs. 10 of the songs will be in English and 5 songs will be in Malay. Bronx rap legend, KRS-One will be featured in the album and also another unnamed Japanese rapper will be featured in The President. The interview ends with a live performance of Joe Flizzow performing Do it Duit.

YG Family - We are YG Family

YG Family - Famillenium

YG Family is a Korean hip hop rap group consisting of all the members in the YG Entertainment label. The song, 우리는 YG Family (pronounced Oori Nun YG Family) , or in English "We are YG Family" is the first single off the Famillenium album released in 1999. This song features the rappers 1TYM, Jinusean, Perry, and Yang Goon, the founder of YG Entertainment.

I remember seeing this music video sometime back in the year 2000 and I thought, wow, this must be Asian gangsta rap that I'm seeing right now. Back in the year 2000, Asian rap and Asian hip hop was something new. In all honesty though, I thought this was the coolest music video ever. And today though, it still is, to some degree of course. I mean, how more gangsta can this music video get? There's plenty of guns, shooting and killing people and even a gun shootout with the police! Haha. And then add matrix-like special effects to the mix and you have a hit song. Usually the Korean media is extra conservative when it comes to displaying mature subject matter such as this. I am surprised that they allowed this music video to be shown and let this song to be on the music charts. Nevertheless, this is a classic Korean rap song.

MC Ryuu & MC Epikz - One Life One Love

One Life One Love is rap song by two Asian rappers: MC Ryuu, a Vietnamese rapper and MC Epikz, a Khmer rapper. This is song is about the two rappers confessing their love to the women in their lives. The song is sampled from One Life One Love by Taiwanese R&B/Pop group Tension. One really cool thing about this song is that there are 4 languages being used in this song namely English, Khmer, Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese.

Thanks to alexn101 for making the YouTube video with the lyrics of One Life One Love, featuring the little adorable MapleStory sprites. One thing that I must correct is that, that is not a girl singing the chorus as alexn101 points out, its actually a male singer from Tension. The pitch of the voice was changed to give that "Kayne West effect".

Gee Q - Like I do

Gee Q

Like I Do is an Asian gangsta rap song by Vietnamese rapper, Gee Q from San Diego. In Like I Do, Gee Q raps about the things he has been through in his daily grind. The song's instrumental has a very grimy feel to it and it fits well with the grimy lyrics of the song.

NESE - Superman (Soulja Boy Rip Off)

Hot Shot OST

Speaking of Cha-Bu-Duo-ness (I just invented that term) and to further illustrate on MC Hotdog's disgust with the cha bu duo mentality of the Chinese people, I found video that just screams out cha bu duo hip hop. There is drama series about basketball produced in Taiwan called Hot Shot. I don't know anything this drama but whenever one of the basketball team wins, they do a victory dance to taunt the other team called Superman. Yes, I said Superman. Sounds familiar? Wait until you hear the instrumental of Superman . Oh and there is a dance that comes with this song too called the Superman Dance! Excuse me but..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

This is a major rip off of Soulja Boy's Crank That and a really, really bad one at that. And to think that there are people that actually like this taunt song really baffles the heck out of me. In this song they prance around while saying "I am Superman" and "You are loser". Oh the irony of it all. Unfortunately NESE, you are also a loser because you can't make original music.

For anyone who wants to read the lyrics or the translation of this ultra crappy song its available here.

MC Hotdog - Mr. Almost

MC Hotdog - Mr Almost

Taiwanese rapper, MC Hotdog has released his 5th album on October 2008. His new album called 差不多先生 (pronounced: Cha Bu Duo Xiang Sheng), translated in English as Mr. Almost. This album was one of the most anticipated Chinese hip hop albums in Taiwan and also China.

Track Listing

01. 我瘋了 (I’m Crazy)
02. 差不多先生 (Mr. Almost)
03. 我哈你 (My Honey)
04. 海洋 (Ocean)
05. 謝謝啞虎 (Thanks Yahoo)
06. 瞎王之王 (Blind King Of Kings)
07. 毒 (Poison)
08. 請拍手 (Please Clap)
09. 怎麼能夠 (How Can)
10. 他們覺得 (They Feel That)

Mr. Almost, is the title track is MC Hotdog's album. In this song, MC Hotdog uses the phrase 差不多 in almost every line. The term "差不多" (pronounced: cha bu duo) can be translated to English as "good enough". This line of thinking has plagued the Chinese people where they would compromise their effort or quality in whatever they do just because it is "good enough". The name 差不多先生 or "Mr. Almost" was first used by a 20th century Chinese philosopher name of Hu Shi who wrote a story to discourage the Chinese about this line of thinking. MC Hotdog's song Mr. Almost is a tribute to Hu Shi's work, and MC Hotdog addresses the very same issue and mentality that is still affecting the Chinese people today. Mr. Almost is satirical song about a life that revolves around the "good enough" mentality and therefore cuts corners in almost anything and everything just to get things over with to the point where it becomes ridiculous. There is also a funny line where MC Hotdog says he had "good enough" sex many times using a "good enough" position.

Thaitanium - Ta Leung feat Nara

Thaitanium - Thailand's Most Wanted

Thaitanium is a Thai-American hip hop group and one of Thailand's most popular hip hop acts. Thaitanium or, "Thaitay" as they are commonly known as by their fans, consists of 3 Thai rappers: Khan, Way and Day. To this date they have released 6 albums. AA (2000), Thai Riders (2002), Province 77 OST (2003), Resisting Against da System (2004), Thailand's Most Wanted (2006) and Flipside (2008). Thaitanium also hosted the first ever, Asian Hip Hop Festival in Bangkok, last month in October.

Ta Leung (ทะลึ่ง in Thai) is a club-banger hit from Thaitanium. Although this song is 2 years old, it is still one of the most popular rap songs in Thai hip hop clubs right now. The term Ta Leung in Thai means that you are naughty, in a sexual kind of way. In the context of the music video, you will see that every time one of the rappers from Thaitanium tries to advance at a girl, she starts waving her finger and says "Ta Leung". That is how the term is used in Thailand. This song is on their Thailand's Most Wanted Album.

Point Blanc - Meng Wan feat Uncle Real and MC Yan

Point Blanc - Straight to the Point

Meng Wan (命运 in Chinese) is a song by Point Blanc, featuring Uncle Real and Hong Kong rapper, MC Yan. This song is in the Cantonese language and it is about making one's own destiny. The instrumental of this song is really cool. It is sampled from one of the old school kung fu movies and has a really nice vintage feel to it. This song can be found on Point Blanc's Straight to the Point CD.

The music video of Meng Wan reminds me about the old kung fu movies. Its about a boy who goes off in a far away temple to train in kung fu. Because the boy trained hard, his kung fu master took a liking to him and that caused another trainee to be jealous of him. And so one day the other jealous trainee pushes the boy and then the boy's locket, which contains his mother's picture, falls to the floor. Fueled by anger, the boy starts fighting his fellow trainee and then the master discovers the two fighting. The master then decides to discipline the boy by making him do chores around the temple and balance rice bowls on his head and hands. In the end of the video, the boy regains the respect of the master and they both bowed to each other to signify that respect. This music video, is a metaphor for our lives. There will be many challenges and obstacles we will face before we can fulfill our destiny.

Khmer Rap Boyz - Sexy feat KDEP

The Khmer Rap Boyz and KDEP are Khmer rappers from Cambodia. The song Sexy is about their affection for Khmer girls. This is an east-meets-west rap song where they have mixed traditional Khmer music with hip hop beats. I think its very cool and exciting that hip hop is starting to blow up in a country such as Cambodia and they have groups that "keep it real" and still stick to their Khmer roots instead of being a hollow imitation of mainstrean American rappers.

The music video of Sexy was directed by OCM. OCM is a famous music video director in the French Hip Hop industry. In the video you can see glimpses of daily life in Cambodia, which includes beautiful Khmer women and beautiful architecture and as well some social issues such as poverty. There's also a funny staggering drunk at the end of the video.

LS - Still a Chink Remix feat. Jin, Shogunna, Snacky Chan, Rookadamus and Young Mac

LS

LS aka "Lyrical Specialist" is Chinese rapper from Chinatown, New York. He gained a lot of exposure when Blender Magazine wrote an article about him called Big Trouble in Little China in April of 2004. The article goes in detail about a shooting incident where he heroically stood up for Jin when someone tried to "punk" Jin inside New York bar. LS ended up being shot in the back with a .40 caliber. Fortunately LS survived the shooting.

The song Still a Chink a socially conscious rap song that deals with the issue of racism and prejudice against Asian-Americans. Although the term "chink" is a derogatory name to discriminate the Chinese, this term has been used to insult Asians or anyone who looks Asian. In this remixed version of Still a Chink, this song is featuring Asian rap superstars: Jin, Shogunna, Snacky Chan, Rookadamus and Young Mac. Jin and and LS are the only Chinese rappers in this song, however the other Asian rappers (who are Korean and Vietnamese) featured in this song face the same stereotypes and are fighting in the same battle.





LS is working on a new mixtape. No word on when it will be officially released or what it is called. You can find LS's myspace at www.myspace.com/lsny1

Flowsik - Represent

Flowsik - Jay Pak Flow Sik Mixtape
Flowsik is a Korean rapper from Queens, New York from the Illuminaire Status label. For those who have been following hip hop news, you guys know about Ice-T making headlines back in the summer of 2008 when he said "Fuck Soulja Boy! Eat a dick! This nigga single handedly killed hip hop.” Wow. Talk about controversial. For all you guys that already knew about it, yes, this is old news. What Ice-T meant was that the rappers that are in the limelight nowadays lack the content that makes hip hop exciting and fresh. This is not only Ice-T's view but there is a lot of talk nowadays that hip hop is stagnant. Even Nas said it with his song Hip Hop is Dead. In comes, Flowsik an Asian rapper. Ice-T seems to take a liking to Flowsik and even co-signed him. Whatever that Soulja Boy is missing, Flowsik definately makes up for it.

Here is a clip of Flowsik performing over Nas's classic Represent. This performance was held at the world famous Pyramid Club at the Lower East Side in New York where Ice-T was hosting the "End of the Weak", an open-mic event. If you go to the worldstarhiphop where Flowsik's video is hosted the title says "The Next Jin?". What? They don't even look alike!! Flowsik is Korean and Jin is Chinese. And they don't even rap the same. Ugh. Whatever. As long as Asian rappers can get some limelight and get some recognition that's fine. We all know how the industry treated Jin, being and Asian rapper and all. Let's hope they don't do the same for Flowsik, cuz this cat definately has talent.

Flowsik has a mixtape album out called Jay Pak Flow Sik. You can get it at his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/flowsik.

Filipino Rapper M.L. - Catch Me

M.L.
M.L. (abbreviation for Mutant Lyricst or My Life) is a Filipino rapper who is currently residing in Queens, New York. M.L. migrated to the United States from the Philippines at age 8. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and he started listening to hip hop music notably, the Wu-Tang Clan and their 36 Chambers LP. As for the name "Mutant Lyricist", it was a name that comes from his love of Marvel and DC comic books.

Catch Me, is a song about M.L.'s grind to make something of himself in the rap industry. In this song M.L. raps about his trials and tribulations he experienced in the rap game. One the lines that stick in my head from Catch Me is: "If you ain't with it, you ain't part of my plan/ That only means one thing, you're part of a scam/" Wow. That line hits pretty hard.

M.L. has a an album released called PHILAMERICA, you can get it at his myspace at www.myspace.com/drebelmusic.