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Magnetic North, an Asian hip hop duo from (New York City or Cali…I’m not actually sure. Their facebook page and their myspace page don’t agree), will be playing at Columbus Park (67 Mulberry) at 4:00 PM on 06-13 (in four days!), at the Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery) at 8:00 PM on 06-21, and finally at Kollaboration NYC on 06-27.
I only recently learned about them and they’re songs are pretty cool. Definitely worth checking out at the very least at their MySpace page that I linked above. The tunes or the lyrics of at least two of their songs, “Within the Rhythm / Drift Away,” and “So Long” seem to be highly inspired by Linda Eder’s song “Drift Away” (though actually, listening to a more recent recording/video of this song, they seem to have changed the lyrics so that it’s completely original!) and the song “Winds” by Akeboshi (a j-pop artist most well-known for that song “Winds” featured as the closing theme song for a season of the Japanese anime, Naruto). Their songs seem to speak about more internal or interpersonal struggles that aren’t typically found in hip hop (at least from my experience of listening to hip hop in 7th grade when I was infatuated with this black guy in my class).
This seems to be a trend among the Asian hip hop artists (whether from the United States or some country in Asia), the topics they rap about are radically different than that of Black artists in America. Quite frankly I tend to prefer the themes in these hip hop songs as there’s less of (if any at all) those self-centered lyrics such as “This is why I’m hot / This is why I’m hot / I’m hot ‘cuz I’m fly / U ain’t ‘cuz ya not…” or lyrics of getting off the streets and reformation after living a life of crime, or of course, all the talk of “bitches and hos,” (keep in mind that I’m not trying to say there aren’t merits to the what I’ll call here “normal” hip hop or rap music. It’s great in its own right. This is simply my preference).
Anyway, It’s also a nice touch having a female voice in the group since it adds a much more lyrical feel to the songs.
Hopefully some of you will come out to watch them live sometime this month!
Check out the music video to their song “Within the Rhythm / Drift Away” (the official, re-made version can be found on facebook…Wordpress won’t let me link it):
I felt like I was going to die. Body. pulsing, beating, crashing with the waves of the crowd. Lungs. collapsing onto themselves with the weight of the air. My head felt light as I stared up into his eyes. Skin slick, pruned. I was wearing a different shirt by the end of it. A darker shade. So loud. Not loud enough.
My hand touched his.
A sensory experience. I felt so high–more high than any one induced by toxic substances. I felt so in love. so whole. so alive.
This concert was an experience of a lifetime. Tablo’s every word, every note pierced my soul and I know I could have died right there, in complete and utter bliss, at peace with the world for the first time of my life.
It was exhilarating.
They are really a sight to see–Epik High. Their opening acts were also quiet formidable. Far-East Movement for one definitely emphasized the aspect of on-stage performance. They stepped out from a spaceship from 3009, clad in thick space suits that I’m sure made it hard to breathe.
I don’t think I could coherently describe the wonder that was this concert.
My 魂 is soaring.
