The Notorious MSG

Notorious MSG
From left to right: The Hunan Bomb, Hong Kong Fever, Down-Lo Mein
Background information
Origin	New York, New York, U.S.
Genres	Comedy rap, pop punk
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Cordless Recordings
Website	NotoriousMSG.com
Members	Hong Kong Fever Down-Lo Mein The Hunan Bomb
Past members	Funky Buddha Futomaki

Notorious MSG is a performing trio of Asian American rappers founded in 2002 in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City. Their songs are parodies of gangster rap mixed with Asian American culture, featuring lyrics about gangster lifestyles and Chinese food and boasting innuendos regarding women. Their group name is a parody of Brooklyn rapper The Notorious B.I.G., with "MSG" referring to monosodium glutamate, a sodium additive commonly used in East Asian cuisines.

Notorious MSG started in stories for themselves to explain their reasons for forming the group. According to this story, they all met in the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant in which they worked, but decided middle class origin, pointing to evidence which includes a reference to Cornell University in one of their songs.

In 2006, PRI's The World reported that the trio was in negotiations with Comedy Central to develop a series.

Notorious MSG's website had a few singles for download. Their first cut, "Wok the Party", was received with mediocre fanfare. Shortly thereafter, they released three singles (such as Chinatown Hustler) that showed their potential for splicing rhymes to background beats, and garnered much popularity.

In 2003 and 2004 Notorious MSG started to give small, organized concerts, generally to a few hundred people at any given time. One of their earliest performances was given at Rutgers University. Their first West Coast performance, given in February 2005, just outside Los Angeles, was part of a night of Asian-themed stand up comedy.

They performed on August 4 and 5 at the Vans Warped Tour 2007 (Nassau Coliseum and Raceway Park, NJ).

In recent years, the Notorious MSG has also performed in various music venues in New York City, such as Bowery Ballroom, CBGB's (just before it closed), Santos Party House and Brooklyn Bowl.

After concerts they stay around to mingle with the audience, sign autographs and have their pictures taken. The members stay in character during and after the event.