Hikaru Utada Celebrates Kick-off of Her First Tour in 12 Years With Surprise Drop of Digital Single That Features Top Asian Rappers
Hikaru Utada celebrates kick-off of her first tour in 12 Years with surprise drop of digital single that features top Asian rappers: "Too Proud featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)"
Available for digital download purchase and on streaming services
The Yokohama Arena show on November 6th kicks off Hikaru Utada's first concert tour in 12 years. Coinciding with the opening of the tour, the digital single "Too Proud featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)" was dropped for download purchase as well as through subscription services also on November 6.
The new track is a remix of "Too Proud featuring Jevon" that featured Jevon from the UK and was released in June as part of Hikaru Utada's seventh album Hatsukoi. Three amazing rappers from Asia, namely XZT from China, Suboi from Vietnam, and EK from South Korea, participates in this new remix and since they are all hot artists in their own right, the track is sure to garner attention Asia-wide!
This is Hikaru Utada's first time collaborating with other artists from Asia. The term "L1 Remix" of the title refers to "Language 1 Remix," describing the four artists each participating in their respective first languages.
Check out the 90 second clip on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/OtlQmGR9VDs
The track "Too Proud featuring Jevon," from Hikaru Utada's seventh album Hatsukoi released in June this year, is now also available through subscription services, so it'd be cool to check out both versions!
[About the Featured Artists]
XZT
XZT (谢子通) is a 24-year-old Chinese rapper, and one of the three members of Straight Fire Gang, a rap collective. He began to rap while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, he worked at WeChat as a product manager and worked on his music part-time. At the beginning of 2018, Straight Fire Gang released their first studio album, These Kids Climbing Wall to great success. They completely sold out their two national tours in 2018, covering a total of 18 cities.
Suboi
Hàng Lâm Trang Anh (born January 14, 1990), known by her stage name Suboi, is a Vietnamese rapper, songwriter and actress. Raised in Saigon, where she lives, Suboi is the first Vietnamese female rapper to become successful in her country and is considered Vietnam's queen of hip hop. She is able to rap in both English and Vietnamese, making her unique from most rappers in Vietnam. Her lyrics are typically introspective yet outspoken; and deals with family, love, social pressures, and daily life in Vietnam.
She became a fan of hip-hop music at the age of 14, and improved her English by listening and rapping along to famous American rappers such as Eminem and MOs def. At the age of 17, her talent was apparent as she accompanied fellow rapper, Rapsoul, to Music Faces' recording studio to record his track. Her mainstream recognition grew when she was invited to rap on Vietnamese pop star ho Ngoc ha's chart topping singles "my apology" and "girls' night" in 2009.
At the age of 20, she debuted her album walk in August 2010 which was well received by her loyal fan base as well as music critics in Vietnam. After leaving the record label Music Faces in 2012, she start up her own company, Suboi entertainment, and released her second studio album entitled run in 2014 with beats produced by local Vietnamese producers as well as international producers from the United States and England.
Suboi made her concert debut in America on March 13, 2015, co-heading with awkwafina, a female rapper from New York. She also made her acting debut in CAAMFest 2015, held in San Francisco, with hollow, a horror movie directed by Ham Tran. The film became a box office hit and led to her first starring role in 2016's Bitcoin Heist, a Vietnamese heist film also directed by Ham Tran.
In 2015, she was invited to perform an official showcase at South by Southwest (SXSW) becoming the first Vietnamese artist ever to be officially invited by the festival. She performed to rave reviews and in 2016, she was invited back to perform at SXSW for the second consecutive year. She also opened for Skrillex in in 2015.
By 2016, Suboi was rebuilding her musical career after what she considered a creative lull. She released her new single entitled "Doi" early in the year, emphasizing a "dark beat" which she had been reluctant to adopt earlier in her career.
EK
EK is painting the industry with his colorful and talented rap skills. He is part of MBA (MostBadassAsian), an entire crew armed with creativity and technique; definitely a group to keep an eye on.
[Hikaru Utada Releases]
* Streaming Services and Digital Downloads
"Too Proud featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)"
Available November 6
https://lnk.to/TooProud
Available for digital download purchase and on streaming services
The Yokohama Arena show on November 6th kicks off Hikaru Utada's first concert tour in 12 years. Coinciding with the opening of the tour, the digital single "Too Proud featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)" was dropped for download purchase as well as through subscription services also on November 6.
The new track is a remix of "Too Proud featuring Jevon" that featured Jevon from the UK and was released in June as part of Hikaru Utada's seventh album Hatsukoi. Three amazing rappers from Asia, namely XZT from China, Suboi from Vietnam, and EK from South Korea, participates in this new remix and since they are all hot artists in their own right, the track is sure to garner attention Asia-wide!
This is Hikaru Utada's first time collaborating with other artists from Asia. The term "L1 Remix" of the title refers to "Language 1 Remix," describing the four artists each participating in their respective first languages.
Check out the 90 second clip on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/OtlQmGR9VDs
The track "Too Proud featuring Jevon," from Hikaru Utada's seventh album Hatsukoi released in June this year, is now also available through subscription services, so it'd be cool to check out both versions!
[About the Featured Artists]
XZT
XZT (谢子通) is a 24-year-old Chinese rapper, and one of the three members of Straight Fire Gang, a rap collective. He began to rap while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, he worked at WeChat as a product manager and worked on his music part-time. At the beginning of 2018, Straight Fire Gang released their first studio album, These Kids Climbing Wall to great success. They completely sold out their two national tours in 2018, covering a total of 18 cities.
Suboi
Hàng Lâm Trang Anh (born January 14, 1990), known by her stage name Suboi, is a Vietnamese rapper, songwriter and actress. Raised in Saigon, where she lives, Suboi is the first Vietnamese female rapper to become successful in her country and is considered Vietnam's queen of hip hop. She is able to rap in both English and Vietnamese, making her unique from most rappers in Vietnam. Her lyrics are typically introspective yet outspoken; and deals with family, love, social pressures, and daily life in Vietnam.
She became a fan of hip-hop music at the age of 14, and improved her English by listening and rapping along to famous American rappers such as Eminem and MOs def. At the age of 17, her talent was apparent as she accompanied fellow rapper, Rapsoul, to Music Faces' recording studio to record his track. Her mainstream recognition grew when she was invited to rap on Vietnamese pop star ho Ngoc ha's chart topping singles "my apology" and "girls' night" in 2009.
At the age of 20, she debuted her album walk in August 2010 which was well received by her loyal fan base as well as music critics in Vietnam. After leaving the record label Music Faces in 2012, she start up her own company, Suboi entertainment, and released her second studio album entitled run in 2014 with beats produced by local Vietnamese producers as well as international producers from the United States and England.
Suboi made her concert debut in America on March 13, 2015, co-heading with awkwafina, a female rapper from New York. She also made her acting debut in CAAMFest 2015, held in San Francisco, with hollow, a horror movie directed by Ham Tran. The film became a box office hit and led to her first starring role in 2016's Bitcoin Heist, a Vietnamese heist film also directed by Ham Tran.
In 2015, she was invited to perform an official showcase at South by Southwest (SXSW) becoming the first Vietnamese artist ever to be officially invited by the festival. She performed to rave reviews and in 2016, she was invited back to perform at SXSW for the second consecutive year. She also opened for Skrillex in in 2015.
By 2016, Suboi was rebuilding her musical career after what she considered a creative lull. She released her new single entitled "Doi" early in the year, emphasizing a "dark beat" which she had been reluctant to adopt earlier in her career.
EK
EK is painting the industry with his colorful and talented rap skills. He is part of MBA (MostBadassAsian), an entire crew armed with creativity and technique; definitely a group to keep an eye on.
[Hikaru Utada Releases]
* Streaming Services and Digital Downloads
"Too Proud featuring XZT, Suboi, EK (L1 Remix)"
Available November 6
https://lnk.to/TooProud
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