How do you make a year old song fresh again? With a newly released music video, that’s how. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s been a year since Magnetic North & Taiyo Na, featuring Conchita Campos, dropped their single “Summertime” from their Home:Word album, but who cares? The colors and visuals of the music video match the song so well and shows exactly how I imagined a summer day in New York would be like.
Ah, yes! A great event on the East Coast I can attend! Score! Talented artists Magnetic North, Taiyo Na, afterschoolspecial, and Cynthia Lin Band are all getting together to perform at the Parkside Lounge in the great city of New York next Saturday, March 6th. Doors will open at 8:30 and the cover charge is only $5 bucks! If you live around the area and you’re 21+, make sure to be there because it’s going to be a sick night with great music.
Here are the details:
Magnetic North+Taiyo Na
afterschoolspecial
Cynthia Lin Band
Parkside Lounge
317 East Houston Street
New York, NY 10002-1103
Saturday, March 6
Doors at 8:30pm
$5 Cover
For more info or to get on a special guestlist- please e-mail Daniel@sdaff.org
afterschoolspecial:
Magnetic North & Taiyo Na:
Cynthia Lin Band:
If you observe how a man treats his parents then you’ll know how he’ll treat you. There’s certainly something about a man who loves his momma and I think it goes without saying that we shouldn’t only celebrate the importance of our parents on Mother/Father’s Day, but every day. With a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, director Gary San Angel finished the final touches for Taiyo Na’s latest music video this past weekend.
Taiyo Na and his Mom
The release of “Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)” off the ‘Love is Growth’ album, expresses what many of us probably don’t say enough, and that is how grateful we are to our parents for their sacrifice and ambition to make our lives better than their own. There is something that can be taken away from Taiyo’s lyrics that makes it poignant and relatable to our own personal versions of the immigration story. This is pretty evident in the way the music video was completed. It became a “community arts film project” for members of the Asian Arts Initiative and the people of Philadelphia who share their photos and lives with us. Throughout the video, Gary wanted to stress the significance of honoring those who have raised us into the individuals we are today and in doing so we remember where we come from.
Well it certainly made me pull out the old photo-albums. . .Yes, that’s me in the heap of frilly pink. In the spirit of Taiyo’s message, Thanks Mom and Dad, “you’ve been lovely to me.”
Watch “Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)” by Taiyo Na and Directed by Gary San Angel below:
Source: a-Tunes
Ellie Meets Talent, EMT, is back with another episode featuring the always handsome Taiyo Na and the talented duo Magnetic North. Reigning from the West Coast, T and Direct got together to form Magnetic North back in 2003 and it’s only looked up from there. The hip hop group, known for their “mix of refreshingly honest rhymes and organic beats,” are definitely AA forces to be reckoned with. Fast forward 6 years later, and the emcees have garnered respect, fans, and love from all over the country. Watch out for their new album to be released in late 2009.
Born and raised in the great City of New York, Taiyo Na, is a singer, songwriter, MC, producer, and spoken word poet. His debut album, “Love is Growth” received much acclaim with Okayplayer.com writing, “establishes himself as a multidimensional talent with a unique creative voice that fuses the rhythms of the city that raised him with the soul of the Asian immigrant culture that birthed him.” But don’t be fooled by his pretty boy looks, this AA artist is one of the most respected artists on our neck of the woods and exudes talent every time he hits a mic.
Na and Magnetic North have collaborated in the past, but expect their music video for “Summertime” to drop summer 2010. Our team was lucky enough to sit with the talented threesome to talk music, collaborations, crushes, and more. All here on the 4th episode of “EMT.”
Ladies, ladies, ladies. You’re already captivated by his looks aren’t you? This native New Yorker is one of the East Coast’s best kept secrets and not only is he a talented singer but is also an awesome cook. Can it get any better than that? Mr. Na who’s 75% Japanese and 25% Korean was born in the great city of New York and started writing rhymes at the age of 13. Five years later, the talented performer found himself sharing stages with some of the greats including Maya Angelou and Janice Mirikitani and at just 19 years old, the New World Theater’s Intersection Conference selected Na “as one of the 25 Best Emerging Artists Under the Age of 25″ in 2002.
Na’s “The Love is Growth” album features some of the most talented AA talents out there and you can take a listen on his official site or grab the album on Amazon.
What’s next for Mr. Taiyo Na? Well, you’ll just have to see on the next installment of “EMT!”
Listen to some of the talented singer here:
My personal favorite song, “Immigrant Mother.”
