LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — HipHopDX Asia, Warner’s label-agnostic digital hip-hop news source and media platform, announced the launch of ‘The Regionals’ a rap cypher series that will see some of the region’s leading up-and-coming emcees freestyle over beats provided by some of the top producers in the west.
The project will help bring Asian hip-hop to a wider audience and spotlight rising talent in the region. The project also connects some of leading rappers from Asia with some of the top producers from the West, cross polinating the two musical spheres.
The inaugural round of cyphers will kick off in September, with emcees such as Arkho, Jon Protégé, Jrldm, Loonie, and Mhot from The Philippines; Julia Wu, Karencici, Kumachan, and Nickthereal from Taiwan; as well as B-Wine, Blacka, Gonzo, and Tlinh from Vietnam.
“Asian hip-hop music is rapidly growing in popularity. We’ve been very pleased to observe how communities throughout the region have thrived through the acculturation of hip-hop, while still holding fast to their own local cultures. There’s so much amazing talent here in the region, and the world needs to take more notice. For Asian rap to go global, more alliances and collaborations between rappers from different markets are needed. ‘The Regionals’ is our way of showing everyone else what Asia has got,” said Eddy Lim, Regional Director of HipHopDX Asia.
“Freestyle cyphers are a cornerstone of hip-hop culture. ‘The Regionals’ provide the first-ever cypher series to elevate and celebrate the best-in-class emcees from the East, in close collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producers from the West. Asiatic Records is delighted to leverage its global distribution networks, which tap into vast audiences worldwide, to support HipHopDX Asia on launching this ground-breaking initiative,” added David Stouck, Vice President, A&R Asia, Warner Music.
The first round of cyphers from the different markets will be released on September 2nd (The Regionals Philippines), September 23rd (The Regionals Taipei), and September 30th (The Regionals Vietnam) on all major DSPs.
