Magnetic North hit the ground running in 2003 when emcees Direct and Theresa Vu came together to write a song for an Asian American rally in Berkeley, California. The piece, titled "We Will Not Be Moved", was an ode to their heritage - a mix of refugee war stories and ruminations about skin color and stereotypes. Their mix of refreshingly honest rhymes and organic beats has since become the duo's trademark as they went on to rock stages and move hearts at hundreds of venues across the nation.
Since their debut album release in 2006, Magnetic North has turned heads from execs at Universal Records to renowned civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. They've also collaborated with a number of artists including Vienna Teng and Wong Fu Productions, who produced their AAIFF award-winning music video “Drift Away.” Magnetic North is currently working on their next album to be released in spring 2010.
Taiyo Na
Some musicians are known for their flaring guitar solos or their vocal theatrics or maybe their new sneakers, but Taiyo Na is an artist who is known for the passion of his words. On his critically acclaimed debut album Love is Growth (Issilah Productions, 2008), he showcases exactly that: the heart of a poet behind the agile incarnation of MC, singer, songwriter and producer. Okayplayer.com
Born and raised throughout New York City, Taiyo first started writing rhymes at age 13 with theencouragement of high school and neighborhood
friends. This passion for language, heart and rhythm led to an early journey into spoken word poetry, performing nationally with the New York-based feedback poets’ collective (2000-2003) which featured Def Poetry Jam staple Beau Sia and Former Queens Poet Laureate Ishle Yi Park. By the time he was 18 years old, he had shared stages with Maya Angelou and Janice Mirikitani, and at age 19 was selected as one of the “25 Best Emerging Artists Under the Age of 25” by New World Theater’s Intersection Conference in 2002.
Increasingly driven by melody and groove, in the years following Taiyo found himself building both a name and community within New York City’s independent music scene. The Love is Growth album, thus, features a number of exceptional East Coast-based musicians including Vu, Jason Kao Hwang, Conchita Campos, Minimum Tek, Emily C. Chang, Mark Concerto and more. Taiyo continues to perform for festival crowds, the college circuit and intimate venues throughout the country. Notable accomplishments from the recent past include a guest performance for Helen Zia’s Asian American Renaissance Conference, two featured concerts at Lincoln Center, two appearances onKevin So’s celebrated album A Brighter Day, and an opening performance for 9-time Grammy Award-winning Eddie Palmieri.
As an educator and youth worker, Taiyo has led workshops and courses in creative writing, performance, history and visual art for youth throughout the city for the last 8 years. A formally trained actor, he holds 2 years of study at the legendary Robert X. Modica’s Acting Studio at Carnegie Hall. He was also a host for the 2006 NAMIC Vision Award-winning Cinema AZN show on the now defunct Comcast channel AZN TV. He is currently Artistic Director of the monthly Sulu Series at the Bowery Poetry Club and the Entertainment Series host for Asian America (WNYE), a weekly TV show syndicated by PBS. In addition, he brings his songwriting prowess to the bi-coastal hip-hop group Magnetic North, frequently collaborating and performing songs together.
Vudoo Soul does not look or sound like anything the music industry would traditionally label a "soul man". However, driven by an unwavering desire to break that mold, Vudoo Soul is emerging as one of the freshest faces and styles in music today.
After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the young singer found himself frustrated with the heartless expectations of a "real" career path. Thus, he abandoned his electrical engineering degree to follow his passion and chase the dream of music. With an unstoppable resilience, sharpened by a childhood on unforgiving streets, Vudoo Soul took matters into his own hands in order to create himself a space in the music industry. Despite his unlikely circumstances and a lack of any prior knowledge of music, he quickly became self-taught as a pianist and songwriter, developing a keen resourcefulness and relentless optimism in his hustle as music's underdog.
No one can deny the ever-growing audience that has consistently validated Vudoo Soul's tremendous talent: Hollywood Finalist for American Idol Season 2, Winner of the Boston Black Student Union's Apollo Night 2004, Grand Prize Winner of Kollaboration New York 2005, Grand Prize Winner of The New York Blackberry Soul, Two-time Champion of New York's Training Camp Underground Hip-Hop/R&B Showdown, and most recently, Grand Prize Winner of Asian Elevation. Adoring fans of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds can't be wrong. Yet, this is just the beginning.
As the recording and final production of his first official album approach, Vudoo Soul continues to travel and deliver his engaging performances with a heart-felt voice. His intense, yet tender nature inspires audiences everywhere with an emotional brilliance that moves and mesmerizes spirits through the power of a single soul and his song.
Denizen Kane is a poet and musician born and raised in Tree City. He is one of the founders of I Was Born With Two Tongues (1998-2003), an Asian American spoken word quartet that played a major role in the current spoken word resurgence. The group toured extensively, independently released an LP, Broken Speak, and helped create an open forum for issues of race, identity, and immigration to be discussed throughout a network of colleges, community groups, and local crews. His poetry has been published in numerous periodicals and anthologies, including the Asian Pacific American Journal, the Columbia Review, Echoes upon Echoes: New Korean American Writings, and Screaming Monkeys. He has also performed on
In 2000, Denizen co-founded Typical Cats, a Chicago-based hip hop collective. They have released two LPs through indie imprint Galapagos4—a self-titled debut (2000) and Civil Service (2004), generating an enormous word-of-mouth buzz on the strengths of their stellar live show and stunning on-wax chemistry. Kane made his mark as a solo artist in 2002, with an EP entitled Tree City Legends. His newest LP, Tree City Legends, Volume 2, furthers his reputation as a precocious lyricist, style innovator, and great storyteller-in-the-making.
Kane has toured from New York to Tokyo to Los Angeles, and performed with such underground luminaries as the Visionaries, Living Legends, and J-Live. He continues to create, experiment, build, and break away.
Tree City Legends Never Die.
Sam Kang is a singer/songwriter also known as Geunjin which is the Korean name given by his father. He was born and raised in Southern California, more specifically the Inland Empire. Although he has been pursuing music for the past five years, it is only recently that his vision for music has changed. His songs are inspired by the experiences of and with his friends and family who have had a growing impact on his life and his music attempts to showcase those experiences and the gratitude he has for all of them.
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