L.A. Boyz
| L.A. Boyz | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Rappers, Singers |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop, techno, big beat, new jack swing |
| Label(s) | Pony Canyon Records (Taiwan), UFO (Taiwan), Sony BMG |
| Years active | 1991-1997 |
| Associated acts | Machi |
| Influenced by | Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, Young MC |
| Past members | |
|
Jeffrey Huang Stanley Huang Steven Lin |
|
L.A. Boyz was a Taiwanese pop/rap group composed of brothers Jeff Huang (黃立成, Huang Licheng) and Stanley Huang (黃立行, Huang Lixing), and their cousin Steven Lin (林智文) formed circa 1991. They are considered to be the first rap group in Taiwanese popular music. They released 13 albums (including 3 compilation albums) starting from their first “SHIAM! 閃” in 1992.
The trio were brought up in Irvine, California and met at its University High School. They first became involved in music through their interest in hip-hop dance moves learnt from parties around Orange County and Los Angeles, and fashion from Compton and South-Central LA. Their dancing, and entry into various competitions, eventually led them to be scouted by a representative of Pony Canyon Records, Taiwan.
L.A. Boyz received their “big break ... with the demise of the Little Tigers, a cutesy group that ruled the Taiwan pop scene until one of their members got drafted.” Their distinct sound and use of American slang propelled them to quick success, selling more than 130,000 copies of their first record Shiam. Their second album, released in the same year, was similarly received.
The L.A. Boyz style was a combination of the “youthful, innocent” look prevalent in Taiwanese pop at the time and a "great stage gimmick” in their dancing. They were perceived as an appealing hybrid of American and Taiwanese backgrounds. As Steven Lin noted in an interview with the LA Times in 1993, the perception Taiwanese youth had of Los Angeles as a symbol of modern America led them to choose their name (though only one of their members was from the city itself). Their music videos depict their unique style of synchronized breakdancing in clubs and concert halls and various urban environments. Shots of Kung-fu, Chinese New Year Dragons and baseball also feature.
LA Boyz' music was influenced by a wide variety of pop and dance music. In their songs they make prominent references to new jack swing and Bobby Brown as well as techno and rap. A good example of their musical diversity is the song "Ya!", which features sampled breakbeats and vocals stings (such as “yeah, uh-huh”, “give me a big beat!”, "drop the mid-range, drop the bass"). It features transitions in tempo, a semitone key modulation, a Glissando synthesizer line, and a Hip-Hop section. Their song "I Like It" is a reinterpretation of the disco band KC and the Sunshine Band song "That's the Way (I Like It)" in a hip hop style. Despite being known for their rapping, "two-thirds of their music is actually a mixture of fast-paced dance-pop and slower, romantic R&B numbers."
Their lyrical content include finance, their own rapping and dancing skills, American recording artists and genres (as mentioned above), American cartoons (e.g. The Hulk) and romantic love. Their lyrics reference and reflect to their hybrid nationality, an example from their song "Jump" - which was an eerily similar clone to Kriss Kross's hit song "Jump", imitating their beats, rhythms and melodies. LA Boyz' song had a first verse - "Jerry's gonna make his rap funky in Chinese/ First you gotta start off with the ABCs (American-born Chinese) / Then you gotta learn it like the Taiwanese" - is followed closely by a reference to the American pop cultural icon Superman. They also tone down the violent themes and difficult-to-understand slang in the lyrics in order for it to suit a Chinese-speaking audience. They also sought to identify their local Taiwanese audience (despite having audience in Korea, Japan and Mainland China) by speaking with a strong Taiwanese accent and re-releasing some songs in Hokkien.
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Wikipedia