1st Asian Hip Hop Festival in Thailand

Thailand will be hosting the very first ever, Asian Hip Hop Festival on October 11, 2008 at the Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani in Bangkok, Thailand. This event will be promoting diversity and understanding of different cultures as well as unity of all countries through the message of hip hop. Hosted by Thailand's popular rap group Thaitanium, the Asian Hip Hop Festival will feature hip hop acts from 8 different countries. Furthermore, the Hip Hop legend from Queensbridge, NewYork Nas, aka "Nasty Nas" aka "Escobar" will be performing and respresenting the United States. 15,000 to 20,000 hip hop enthusiasts are expected to attend this event which will not only feature Asian rappers, but also the other 3 elements of hip hop: DJing, breakdancing, and graffitti. Here are list of rappers and the countries they will representing that will be performing for the first-ever Asian Hip Hop Festival:

NAS (USA)

THAITANIUM (Thailand)

ZEEBRA (Japan)

24HERBS (Hong Kong)

JOE FLIZZOW (Malaysia)

MAXIMUM CREW (Korea)

BEATMATHICS (Philippines)

MC HOT DOG (Taiwan)

Mountain Brothers - Galaxies: The Next Level

Mountain Brothers - Self: Volume 1

The Mountain Brothers are a Chinese hip-hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 3 rappers: Peril-L, Styles Infinite, and Chops (who is also the producer for the group). Their name comes from the famous Chinese novel, Water Margin which tells the story of 108 outlaws that lived in the mountains and fought against the corrupt and tyrannical government officials, very much like Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Thus the Mountain Brothers named themselves after these legendary outlaws because they wanted to apply the same concept with hip-hop.

The Mountain brothers have released two albums, Self: Volume 1, which was released in 1999, and Triple Crown, released in 2003. This rap group is now disbanded. Styles Infinite is now a doctor and Peril-L works in a pharmaceutical company. As for Chops, he is still producing hip-hop music and he is well known for producing original music with a jazz/funk/soul feel, without the use of sampling other people's music. To this date, Chops has worked with well-known rap artists such as Kanye West, The Game, Snoop Dogg, TI, Bun B of UGK, Paul Wall and Talib Kweli.

Galaxies is the first single from Self: Volume 1 album. Its a lyrical song with complex rhyme schemes and smooth beats by Chops.

Fate - Freestyle on Philly Barbarians Vol. 2

Fate is a Lao rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this video Fate spits a 4 minute non-stop freestyle for Philly Barbarians Vol. 2, an underground rap DVD which showcases the freestyles of up-and-coming rappers in Philadelphia. A must-see video!!

Thai Ngo - Roll wit Uz

Thai Ngo - My Life and Rhymes


Roll wit Uz, is the first single from the My Life and Rhymes album by Vietnamese rapper, Thai Ngo. This was also Thai's first official music video. You can see Thai's "VIETNAM" tattoo on his back in this music video at 1:22.

According to Thai's myspace, he is currently back in the studio and working on some new tracks.



Thai has another version of Roll wit Uz remixed by the Silly Crew in his album. I like version this much better than the original. Peep the track!

P-Collabroz - Philippines MVPs (Pinoy Anthem)

P-Collabroz is a Filipino rap group from Germany that raps in the German language. They have released a popular Asian rap song called Philippines MVPs, also known as The Pinoy Anthem.

The story of this Pinoy Anthem began when DeeRock Musique (Wizdom and Kid.of.Beatz), produced an instrumental in 2006 for LAD, who wanted to make a track. Wizdom then came up with the idea to make a collaboration track with other Filipino rappers, so he contacted Floribang and Mooniz and asked them, if they wanted to do the collabo-track. They both agreed. And thus the 3 rappers: LAD, Floribang and Mooniz now formed the rap group P-Collaboz and recorded their verses for Philippines MVPs. The chorus was written by Mooniz and the girl singing it is Julie-Ann, Wizdom's cousin.

In February 2007, the P-Collabroz decided to make a music video, which was leaked to YouTube on June 2007. P-Collabroz are very active the Filipino-Asian Community and have fans in Germany, even in Austria and Switzerland.

Gumby aka Pryce - Gangsta Twist

Lao rapper, Gumby aka Pryce is back with a hot new track called Gangsta Twist. You can hear Gumby spitting straight fire on this dancefloor track. Gumby has also released a music video for this track on YouTube, which features Asian girls dancing.
WARNING: This video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK (NSFW)! You can view it here

Roscoe Umali: Artist of the Week on HHO

Roscoe Umali - I Love My DJs Volume 2

Congratulations to "The Fresesh Filipino", Roscoe Umali for making the Artist of the Week in Hip Hop Official on 09/15/2008!! In this video clip, Roscoe tells who he is and he's all about as well as promoting his new released mixtape I love my DJs Volume 2.



For those who want to get the Mixtape CD, you can order it through paypal on Roscoe's mypsace at www.myspace.com/roscoe

Dragon Ash - Grateful Days feat. Zeebra

Dragon Ash - Grateful Days

Grateful Days is a song by Dragon Ash, a Japanese Nu Metal band which fuses a lot of rock and hip hop elements. This song is about thanksgiving and being grateful for all the blessings we have. In this age of consumerism and "keeping up with the Joneses", we easily take everything we have for granted. Being thankful for what we have also allows us to appreciate life itself, which is the greatest gift of all.

This single was released in 1999, and it features Zeebra, one of Japan's top hip hop rappers and ACO, "The Queen of Japanese Soul", singing the chorus. The sample used to make the instrumental of Grateful Days is from Today by The Smashing Pumpkins.



Thanks to SimkuKeoni for providing the YouTube video with the English translation lyrics.

Chuckie Akenz - Funny Fight and Shootout over Beer

Vietnamese Rapper, Chuckie Akenz, stars in this short comedy film where he and a friend are peacefully drinking and then escalate to a fight-to-the-death over the last bottle of beer.


According to the YouTube video description, we can expect more action-packed comedic films starring Chuckie Akenz to come :D

MC Hotdog - Wo Ai Tai Mei

MC Hotdog - WAKE UP


我愛台妹, (pronounced: Wo Ai Tai Mei), is Manadrin for "I love Taiwanese Chicks. This song is by the Taiwanese rapper, MC Hotdog and his adoration for girls from Taiwan.

MC Hotdog first started out his rap career in the year 2000, being a social critic and making satirical songs about Taiwanese pop culture about how it is over-run by Korean media and Taiwanese "plastic artists".





Contrary to what people are saying on the internet, or what the English wikipedia entry on MC Hotdog says, the sample of the song is NOT from the Spinner's Ill Be Around. It does sound like it, but the actual sample is from Glenn Frey's The One You Love.

Here's the actual song:

Too Phat - Just a lil bit feat Warren G

Too Phat - 360º
Too Phat, consisting of Malique and Joe Flizzow, is one of the pioneering rap groups that helped to bring hip hop to mainstream Malaysian music. They have achieved amazing success and popularity in Malaysia as well as the rest of Southeast Asia crossing over cultural and language barriers through the message of hip hop.

Their first album Whuttadilly was released in 1999, followed by Plan B released in 2001, their third album 360° was relased in 2003, and Rebirth into Reality in 2006. Malique has released his own solo album, OK in 2008 which is primarily in the Malay lanaguage. Joe Flizzow, the other half of Too Phat has founded his own label called Kartel Records and is expected to release his album The President soon. As of now Joe Flizzow is working on a a deal to collaborate with r&b sensation, Rihanna and legendary Bronx rapper and teacher of hip hop, KRS-One.

Just a lil bit, is from Too Phat's 360° album released in 2003. In in this song, Too Phat and Warren G rap about how hip hop can bring two cultures together. This video was shot in Long Beach, California and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and features the four elements of hip hop, emceeing, break dancing, graffiti, and DJing. The chorus from this song is a spin-off from Warren G's This DJ from the Regulate...G Funk Era album.



Check out the official website of Kartel Records:

DJ Tommy - Respect 4 DA Chopstick Hip Hop

DJ Tommy - RESPECT FOR DA CHOPSTICK HIP HOP

DJ Tommy is one of the most sought-after DJs in Hong Kong ever since he won first place in the 1991 Hong Kong DMC Championships. The very next year he represented Hong Kong in the World DMC Finals and was awarded 8th place, 2nd place in the 1996 World Finals, and 6th place in 1997 World Finals. In 1999, DJ Tommy released an EP called Scratch Rider, an LP called Respect For Da Chopstick Hip Hop in 2001, and was a major part of the LazyMuthaFucka (LMF) movement which helped bring hip hop culture to Hong Kong. There are rumors speculating that DJ Tommy will release another album featuring RZA, MC Hotdog, but there are no confirmation on whether if or when it will be released.

In Respect For Da Chopstick Hip Hop, DJ Tommy collaborates with MC K-One from Japan, MC Yan from Hong Kong, and MC Meta and Joosuc from Korea. It is truly amazing to hear the many different languages you can hear in this Asian rap song. Music is truly the universal language and it can overcome any borders!



For all you DJ Tommy fans, here is a clip of DJ Tommy in April 2008 DJing while another MC Raps in Cantonese for the opening ceremony of Juice Shop in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Gee Q - How it Goez Down feat Thai Ngo

Gee Q & Thai Ngo

Gee Q is a Vietnamese Rapper from San Diego, California from the record label: Payola Recordz. In How it Goez Down, Gee Q and fellow Vietnamese rapper Thai Ngo, rap about what life is like in their neighborhoods in San Diego and Portland, Oregon.

Gee Q is currently working on a mixtape album with his fellow labelmates from Payola Recordz called Yellowtape Mixtape Vol. 1. There is no official release date yet, but it is scheduled to be released sometime in 2008.

Shogunna - If You Ready

Shogunna - Signed 2 the Streets

Shogunna is an up and comping Korean rapper from Illuminare Records, representing Flushing, New York a.k.a "Forbidden City". The streets called him "Shogun" and he later changed his name to Shogunna as his emcee name. Shogunna's music reflects his life and experiences in the streets of Forbidden City. If you Ready is a rap song from his Signed 2 the Streets album released in 2007.



Shogunna has a Free Album out for download Called FREE HIP-HOP that you can get from http://www.shogunna.com/

Drunken Tiger - Umalis Bar feat. Roscoe Umali and Micki Eyes

Umalis Bar is an English rap song from the Korean rap group, Drunken Tiger featuring Filipino rapper Roscoe Umali and Micki Eyes. Yes, this song is named after the the same Roscoe Umali from Live it Up who helped produced Drunken Tiger's sophmore album: The Great Rebirth. This is definately one of my favourite songs from Drunken Tiger!

As you guys can see the album cover of The Great Rebirth, you can see there are sperm about to fertilize the microphone. A very clever artistic concept!