Growing up I’ve always look for Asian American musicians and performers, simply because they were Asian American. So I would look at people like David Tao, Jin, or others andwhen that wasn’t enough, I would try to find little local performers.
It’s especially fun and rewarding for me to see these little grassroots movements and performances, like the Far*East Movement, Epik High, and Kollaboration, expand into something this big and wonderful. Two shows in May/June…
First, FM and Epik High along with Kero One, Myk are holding four shows across America – in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle, over two weekends in May. Far*East Movement is out to promote their album Animal, and its subsequent single “Girls on the Dancefloor” which is on fire out here in Los Angeles, recently reaching the number 1 spot on Power 106’s Top 7 at 7 with DJ Felli Fel. Korean Hip Hop sensation Epik High is pushing their newly released album “Map the Soul”, a stellar celebration of independent and international hip hop.
Get your tickets for any of the four shows here.
Second, KollaborationNY was recently announced and they just released their rendition of Ne-Yo’s “Closer” which I absolutely LOVE! I personally have never heard of any of the performers save Magnetic North, who did a video with WongFu for their song Drift Away a couple of years a back. Still, that video has me both excited (for new and upcoming talent; especially G*LEE) and sad (in that I can’t attend). The show is on June 27th at NYU Skirball Center and I fully anticipate it to grow in terms of performers and production before then. If it is anything close to the Kollaboration held here in LA earlier this year, it will definitely be worth checking out.
Watch the “Closer” video:
