Hivefest: 88Rising Asia Tour Live in Bangkok
In today's ever-shrinking globalized world, crossing and combining cultures is a necessity for anyone who wants to stay on the cutting edge, and that’s what Hivefest x Zaap will exactly be doing. On December 6, 2017 GMM Live House at CentralWorld will be playing host to the 88Rising Asia Tour. The lineup features Indonesian rap phenomenon Rich Chigga, Chinese rap quartet Higher Brothers, and multi-hyphenate Joji.
Anyone who loves to party, especially those of you who frequent Hip-Hop hotspots like Dirty Bar, Sway, or Blaq Lyte, wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity to see the top viral stars from Asia. On top of that, the show will be joined by the leaders from Thailand’s Hip-Hop scene like DJ Nat (TM303), DJ Cleo P, Fiixd, Young Bong, and Youngohm.
But before we make our way to one of the most exciting Hip-Hop events in Bangkok, let’s take a look at what 88Rising and their headliners are all about.
88 Rising
88Rising is a management and media production company founded by Sean Miyashiro that is dedicated to celebrating global Asian culture. Their product they create ranges from hypnotic music videos to simply clips of someone just eating and drinking. The company’s core artists are hard-hitting rappers out to obliterate expectations set by hyper-polished K-pop stars. It’s clear that they wanted to do something very different, and with their pan-Asian, East-meets-West approach, they’re really finding success the creative and cool way.
A good example would be them taking Rich Chigga, who has never been to the US, and having him collaborate with big name rappers like Ghostface Killah or Savage 21. With their videos often reaching tens of millions views and topping Youtube’s global charts, we can say that this is one media brand to keep an eye on.
Rich Chigga
Rich Chigga, or Brian Imanuel, is a rapper and comedian from Jakarta, Indonesia. You might’ve seen him before from his viral debut single “Dat $tick” released on February 2016. He started off playing around with social media as early as when he was 10. He often posted photoshopped images and comedy sketches on Twitter and Vine. His rap career would kick off when one of his friends intorduced him to “Thrift Shop” by Mackelmore. He taught himself English by watch Youtube videos and listening to rappers like Drake, Kanye West, and 2 Chainz, and wrote his first rap song when he was just 15. With hits like “Seventeen” and “Glow like Dat” topping the charts in no time, we can say this baritone voiced Chigga is no joke.
Higher Brothers
Higher Brothers are a four-man rap group from Chengdu, China that blends unique linguistic skills with a modern day rap influence. Their music draws inspiration from the Chinese firewall that blocks out internet tools like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube that has become essential to everyday life. When one of the band members, Melo, wrote a viral song about Uber with the lines "I don't write political hip-hop. But if any politicians try to shut me up, I'll cut off their heads and lay them at their corpses' feet" he was brought in for questioning by the Public Security Bureau. They never let censorship get in their way and would like to represent China as rap music becoming ever so popular in Asia. Their latest album Black Cab features hits like "Made in China" and "Bitch Don't Kill My Dab" that is gaining more and more internet fame each day.
Joji
Joji, or George Miller, is a Japanese-Autralian artist best known for his absurdist Youtube channel “TVFilthyFrank”. But when he’s not making a bizarre show as Filthy Frank, he also takes on a prominent music career. There’s two sides to this as Miller produces both comedic rap based music with the alias “Pink Guy” as well as more serious and traditional music under another stage name, Joji. Joji’s music features a perfect blend of trap, folk, electronic, and R&B that creates a down-tempo, melancholic theme that pairs nicely with his soulful voice. his debut commercial album “In Tougues” features singles like “Will He” that have garnered ober 10 million views on 88Rising’s Youtube channel.
Pre-sale tickets are currently up for grabs at 1,800 THB and when that’s all sold out, Regular tickets will be available for 2,000 THB. There’s no better place to be to celebrate the best of Asian Hip-hop with nothing but the best of the east. Bring your friends, grab your lover, and be among the crowd when the first beat drops, because you wouldn't want to miss a single second of this.
Follow 88rising and Hivefest on their official Facebook pages for more information and the latest news and updates.