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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):
Kollaboration NY Tickets are on sale now!
…And I just bought mine!
Now, less than two months away, get ready for Kollab NY 2009! So buy your tickets here! There’s even a special discount for all you NYU students. _smiles_ If you’re interested, you all should also check out the promo video on the site I linked above…
Look forward to seeing it!
I suppose there’s no better way to start a blog than by talking about a really cool event that just went down…KOLLABORATION!
“ABOUT KOLLABORATION
Kollaboration is an Asian Pacific Islander American/Canadian (APIA/C) organization and Movement that was founded in 2000 by Executive Director Paul “PK” Kim. Under the umbrella of ProKreation Productions – a cutting edge, pioneering production company promoting entertainment in the Asian American community – Kollaboration became officially incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in January of 2006.
“WHAT IS KOLLABORATION?
Kollaboration is an annual event and movement created by a small group of professional young Asian Pacific Islander Americans/Canadians, volunteering their time and skills to celebrate the vast talents of their community and hopefully bring them into the mainstream.
“WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
It is evident that APIA/Cs are often categorized into a certain image. APIA/Cs may find it increasingly difficult to get jobs outside the “model minority” or “foreigner” role. Such barriers often result in the lack of APIA/Cs in mainstream entertainment industries. Thus, APIA/Cs are not only unfairly portrayed but also disproportionately underrepresented in the mainstream media.
“Evidently, our youth are left with few visible role models and a narrowed pool of aspirations.
Kollaboration is the stepping-stone.
—
I don’t think I have ever seen so many Asians all crowded together in one place until last night. Yesterday a bunch of my friends and sponsors (AASP/API-SPAM) drove into LA to see this show. It featured the talents of David Choi, Jane Lui, Jazmin, Kina Grannis, Kenichi Ebina, Lilybeth Evardome, and Paul Dateh with guest performances by Fanny Pak, Kaba Modern, Jo Koy, and BoA (James Kyson Lee, aka ANDO from Heroes was also there judging the performances)! All of their performances were extremely exciting, though I think what really made my night (and for pretty stupid reasons might I add) was getting to see AARON YOO! He was sitting in the VIP section only three rows in front of me. Quite frankly it was pretty embarrassing. I haven’t had too many opportunities in my life when I’ve gotten to see celebrities up close so I’ve always told people “Whatever, celebrities are people too. I don’t care more about them than I do about other people!” Well…I guess when it comes down to it, I’m just like every other squealing fangirl out there. Ugh. Either way it was still extremely exciting to see him in person, though I failed at getting a photograph of him or his autograph. So sad.
All of the performances were absolutely amazing! What a great night.
Oh I’d also like to mention that Jo Koy was especially amusing. If you have the time you should definitely check out his stand up performances.
It’s exciting how much great talent there is out there.
