UPT - 흑기사 (Black Knight)

UPT - New Era

UPT or Uptown is a Korean R&B/rap group that T used to be a part of. UPT was popular in Korea during the late 90's when Korean hip hop was starting to blow up. The group's lineup had many changes over the years. The only remaining and original member of UPT is Jung and he is joined by 3 new members: Maniac, Swings and Chan, a prominent Asian-American rapper formerly known as "Snacky Chan". UPT has just released their 6th and newest album called New Era. Their other albums are Represent (1995), Represented...Now Believe (1997), Chapter 3 in History (1998), Verbal Medication (1999), and Testimony (2006).

흑기사 or "Black Knight" in English is a song from UPT's latest album New Era. It is a song about the "black knight saving the damsel in distress". This song is for hope during the current economic crisis in Korea. Its a decent song but I would never have imagined Chan rapping in Korean. His music with UPT just sounds so different compared to his old music.

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

Snacky Chan, LS and Jin - 4th Chamber

Left to right: Snacky Chan, Jin, and LS

The 4th Chamber is originally a rap song by the Wu-Tang Clan from the Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) released in 1993. The "Asian version" of the 4th Chamber was recorded shortly after Jin's record deal with Ruff Ryder's Entertainment to help promote talent from the Asian hip hop community. This song is available on Jin's The Definition of History Mixtape (2004) and also Snacky Chan's Killa Tape Mixtape (2005).

Be sure to check out Snacky Chan's verse when he says "Your image is false yo, its been a lie/ You 'bout as real as Tom Cruise playin the part of Samurai/You a funny guy, schemin on my money right?/ I'll have your body in the desert where the mummies lie, bitch/" . That's some real serious Asian hip hop right there.