Styles Stinch released their music video “Summer Love” back in the summer, but the video is getting a second life after being featured on the K-Town Reality Show Season 2. They blend up some hip hop and R&B for a kickback track about their summer loves. The music video follows the guys as they have a day of fun with their women. From the beach to the arcades, you can feel that chill vibe flowing. Bring back that old school lovin’. It’s a fun single that bring back memories of summers past. Model Jenna Lane makes a cameo too.
Animator Kangmin Kim created a unique stop motion world in his short “38-39°C”. (You may have seen it on the film festival circuit.) A man enters an old bathhouse where intense heat and steam cause him to relive a memory of his father. Objects in the bath induce memories of his desire to rid his father of a birthmark they both share.
Director Ursula Liang is working on a feature documentary about an isolated and exceptionally athletic Chinese-American sport, 9-Man. 9-MAN is a streetball game played in Chinatown by Chinese American and Chinese Canadian men. It’s fast, chaotic, unpredictable, grueling; the rules are distinct and exist no where else in the world—imagine volleyball with 18 guys, dunks, and bloodied elbows. This is a sport that is completely unique to Chinese-Americans and therefore something very special to those who play it. Why haven’t you heard of it? Because it’s played only by men. And two-thirds of the players have to be “100% Chinese”. And perhaps because good things are often kept secret. If you’re not part of the 9-man community, you may have no idea what an incredible scene it is.
Since the 1930’s, young men have played this gritty, streetball game in the alleys and parking lots of Chinatown. It started when the community was a Bachelor Society (men outnumbered women 4-to-1) at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act forced Chinese restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. It offered both escape and fraternity for men who were separated from their families in China and facing extreme discrimination and distrust. Today, some 80 years later, 9-man is a lasting connection to Chinatown for a community of men who know a different, more integrated America and it’s a game that has grown exponentially in athleticism. 9-man punctuates each summer with a vibrant, aggressive, exhausting bragging-rights tournament that unites thousands of Chinese-Americans and maintains traditional rules and customs.
The documentary “9-Man” introduces the history of the game and a diverse cast of modern-day characters – from 6’7″ Olympian Kevin Wong to a 91-year-old pioneer – combining vérité footage and interviews with never before seen archival footage and photos sourced directly from the community. Pivoting between oil-spotted Chinatown parking lots and jellyfish-filled banquet scenes, the film captures the spirit of 9-man as players not only battle for a championship but fight to preserve a sport that holds so much history.
The Fu x Claudeo collaborate on the single “Never Let You Go”. The music video for the love song has Josh x Claudeo following a girl with a guitar. They are so infactuated with the object of their desire that they have stalker-ish tendencies. What happens they finally meet her? You can get the song on .
Behind the scenes of Never Let You Go by The Fu x Claudeo
Lyris to Never Let You Go by The Fu x Claudeo
coming down the road just to find myself, but I found you instead
the way you move and sound mesmerized my soul, can’t get you outta my head
It don’t make a difference no matter the cost, I’m gonna find you now
every time you sing your song to me, I fall in love again
and when i get you, oh when i get you i’ll
never go, never let you go 4x
i couldn’t help but follow your beautiful curves, with my wandering eyes
i want you to myself want you in my arms, your body against mine
seeing you around up and down the street, what a beautiful scene
making all my plans to go down that road, eyes centered on you
Young up and coming rappers Derez x ALO dropped their music video for the track “Next Best Thing” off Derez’s Derezervation mixtape. The duo shuts down the haters and show you why they to be should be the next big thing. You can download the song FREE here.
Hip hop artist Toestah dropped his brand new mixtape “Dangerzone”. It marks the third release for the 23 year old rapper/producer. Dangerzone debuts with the endorsement of L.A.’s premier Power 106 DJ duo the LA Leakers (DJs Sour Milk and Justin Credible). Fans have been waiting for his long-anticipated mixtape, which he describes as a compilation of his own exploration of life and youth. “I chose to make party music because I wanted to have fun, to do something about where I was at the time,” says Toestah.
Dangerzone marks a turning point for Toestah and opens a new chapter in the young artist’s life. “When I first started this project, I was a kid. I was doing dumb things but I was learning. It’s made me grow up a little bit,” he says. Now he’s prepared to embark on the path he’s chosen. “I’m excited. I feel comfortable, and I feel confident in my team and in the music we made.”
Toestah has garnered attention for his collaborations with artists Joseph Vincent, MC Jin, Jennifer Chung and Dumbfoundead, and has proven his hip hop caliber by opening for industry heavyweights like The Game, Far East Movement, Glasses Malone, and Eve. He signed with Catch Adventures in 2010 and has released two previous mixtapes: Back in the Building and The Next Level. In 2012, Toestah also expanded his credits as an actor as a principle character in the comedy “Anita Ho,” where he portrays the role of an undercover rapper. His track “Other Side” with Jennifer Chung was also featured earlier this year on the White Frog Original Soundtrack.
Toestah will be celebrating his birthday as well as this new milestone in his burgeoning hip hop career with a launch party at Los Angeles–‐based specialty shoe store BAIT the following week on Thursday, December 6, 2012.
