Band To Watch: Notorious MSG

From Wikipedia.

The Notorious MSG is a performing trio of Chinese gangsta rappers who sing about their rise to fame and fortune, survival on the streets, and boasting innuendos regarding women and Chinese food. Their group name is a parody of famous post-mortem rapper, Notorious BIG (aka Biggie Smalls).

What sets them apart from other rappers in the hip-hop world is that they are more an orchestrated act than outright, born-and-bred rappers. First and foremost they are entertainers, and their lyrics, while usually explicit in nature, are geared toward humor and full of double entendres. They fuse background beats and lyrics with various flavors of Chinese words, phrases and sexual connotations related to foodstuffs.

One really important note about their lyrics, is that while they come off with a "fresh off the boat" immigrant style, they put in large amounts of current pop culture references into their songs.

On October 2, 2005, Funky Buddha was shot in the chest and the arm after leaving a restaurant in NYC Chinatown. He died one hour later in the hospital. Currently, the suspects are still at large. It is rumored that the death of Funky Buddha may be a giant hoax, especially considering the band's name Notorious MSG is a homage to Notorious B.I.G.

Shortly thereafter, they had a replacement join their group. Known as The Hunan Bomb, they had all met in the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant they all worked in.

Their Story

The group got their start in the summer of 2002. The group (and previous job) is comprised of:

Hong Kong Fever, their ringleader, is from Hong Kong. Worked as a waiter

Down-Lo Mein (or D-Lo), the "yellow gigolo", is from Taiwan. Worked as a cook

Funky Buddha (Sept. 8, 1973 - Oct. 2, 2005), the completely useless slacker of the group, is from mainland China. Worked as a dishwasher

The Hunan Bomb, replaced Funky Buddha, is from South Korea. Ex-Underground pit fighter

They decided that being rappers was a far better job, so they quit the restaurant game at The Crazy Wok and started writing lyrics.

Their website had a few singles for download since they are a grass roots group and had to get the word out. Their first cut, Wok the Party was received with mediocre fanfare. Shortly thereafter, they came out with three new very popular singles that showed their potential for cutting addicting rhymes to solid background beats.

The Singles

Straight out of Canton, whose name appears to borrow from Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A.. Their hardest edge song at the time, and still one of the most popular to fans. The version of this song that came out with their first album was enhanced even more, filling in a lot of instrumental bridges.

Dim Sum Girl, a love ballad about the heartbreak of Hong Kong Fever from his former love, a dim sum girl (woman pushing around carts of dim sum in Chinese restaurants).

A few other seasonal songs came out, but were made more as filler, and quickly forgotten about. One of them was another parody, this time from the traditional Scottish holiday song, Auld Lang Syne.

On November 29, 2005, they released a new single, Chinatown Hustler, with the promise of a buyable single and video shortly. It's also the introduction of their new party member, and he sounds like a slightly more coherent Funky Buddha.

The Album

In the Fall of 2004, they came out with their first album, Die Hungry. It only clocked in at around 35 minutes, with 4 interludes and 8 songs (1 remixed). Short compared to most of today's full-length albums, but an impressive effort considering how they started out. Here is the track list:

Intro
Straight out of Canton
Heat it Up
Hong Kong Heartbreak (Sketch)
Dim Sum Girl
Chinese Funk
Buddha Time (Sketch)
Egg Rollin'
Last Meal (Sketch)
Streets of Chinatown
Yellow Fever (feat. Whip Montez)
Straight out of Canton (Iron Wok Remix)

Live Performances

In 2003 and 2004 they started to give small, organized concerts, generally to a few hundred people at any given time. One of their earliest performances was given at Rutgers University. Their most recent performance, given in February 2005, just outside of Los Angeles, was part of a night of Asian-themed standup comedy.

After concerts they stay around to mingle with the audience, sign autographs and have their pictures taken. They seem extremely patient and friendly with their fans. Another thing to note is that they always stay in their character.