Epik High - Map The Soul
So there's this Korean hip hop group I really like. One of the MCs, Tablo, is fluent in English and Korean and graduated from Stanford with a major in Creative Writing. He's an amazing writer, and he published a book in Korea that was really successful. Aside from that, Epik High's a talented group that makes me think something good and real exists in the hip hop world. The more I learn what they're about, the greater my respect for them becomes.
Anyhow, so the story with Epik High is that they decided to ditch their major record label and started their own indie label, Map The Soul, and launched their website of the same name. One of the reasons they decided to go indie was that third party involvement made their albums unnecessarily expensive, and they want give fans the most for their money. Along with the launch, they released a cd/book project also called Map The Soul, sold exclusively on their site. The book is an accompaniment for the cd and discusses the creative process involved in making something, not just music, but any art form. The guys made the cd/book project for the sake of something more personal in this age of digital music.
For their fans, Epik High and the Map The Soul team (I think it's mostly just Epik High, though) have slaved away pouring their hearts into this new label, website and book/album, investing their blood, sweat and tears, in the face of skepticism and risk of failure. The website has everything - made not only available to Korean speakers but also catering to the international fanbase by having the website in both Korean and English, and even international shipping in their online shop. The guys really get intimate with the fans, hosting their own blogs and even a forum where they're moderators and allowing you to communicate with Epik High directly.
They've performed a couple "live" showcases for their new work, check them out in HD. Epik High's soon going on a world tour, including Seattle and some stops in Cali. If you like what you hear, I hope that you might support them and go see them live. :) I'm usually not one to promote things I like or believe in, but I really love this group and hope they do well (which I'm sure of). I'll shut up now, here's their live showcase from today, and they'll have a few more in the next few days. If you payed attention to any of this, awesome, thanks. <3
www.mapthesoul.com
Anyhow, so the story with Epik High is that they decided to ditch their major record label and started their own indie label, Map The Soul, and launched their website of the same name. One of the reasons they decided to go indie was that third party involvement made their albums unnecessarily expensive, and they want give fans the most for their money. Along with the launch, they released a cd/book project also called Map The Soul, sold exclusively on their site. The book is an accompaniment for the cd and discusses the creative process involved in making something, not just music, but any art form. The guys made the cd/book project for the sake of something more personal in this age of digital music.
For their fans, Epik High and the Map The Soul team (I think it's mostly just Epik High, though) have slaved away pouring their hearts into this new label, website and book/album, investing their blood, sweat and tears, in the face of skepticism and risk of failure. The website has everything - made not only available to Korean speakers but also catering to the international fanbase by having the website in both Korean and English, and even international shipping in their online shop. The guys really get intimate with the fans, hosting their own blogs and even a forum where they're moderators and allowing you to communicate with Epik High directly.
They've performed a couple "live" showcases for their new work, check them out in HD. Epik High's soon going on a world tour, including Seattle and some stops in Cali. If you like what you hear, I hope that you might support them and go see them live. :) I'm usually not one to promote things I like or believe in, but I really love this group and hope they do well (which I'm sure of). I'll shut up now, here's their live showcase from today, and they'll have a few more in the next few days. If you payed attention to any of this, awesome, thanks. <3
www.mapthesoul.com
Click to view