Far East Movement
Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles, composed of Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, Jon Street, Ray Ro, DJ Virman, and Jerm Beats.[1] They signed with Martin Kierszenbaum's Cherrytree Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release their 2010 single, "Like a G6" (featuring The Cataracs and Dev) which peaked the Billboard Hot 100,[2] making them the first Asian American group to reach number one on the chart.[3][4] Their follow up single, "Rocketeer" (featuring Ryan Tedder), peaked at number seven and led their third album and major label debut, Free Wired (2010). It performed moderately on the Billboard 200, while their fourth album, Dirty Bass (2012) saw a steep commercial decline, although its lead single, "Live My Life" (featuring Justin Bieber) reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Far East Movement
Los Angeles, California, United States
2003–present
- Cherrytree
- Interscope
- Delicious Deli
- Spinnin'
- Transparent Agency
- Entertainment One
- Kev Nish
- Prohgress
- J-Splif
- Jerm Beats
- Ray Ro
- Jon Street
- DJ Virman
The group's fifth album, Identity (2016) focused on bridging Eastern artists with the group's Western dance music roots. Released independently, the album received positive reviews and spawned the single "Freal Luv" (with Marshmello featuring Tinashe and Chanyeol). Far East Movement has also branched out with a number of collaborations on labels Ministry of Sound, Dim Mak Records, and Ultra Records.
In 2016, Far East Movement's company, Transparent Arts (TA), moved into artist management. TA manages seven artists of various genres, including Korean-American K-pop artist Tiffany Young, rappers Dumbfoundead and Year of the Ox, DJ producers Yultron, Autolaser, and singer Satica.[5] The artists have garnered millions of social media plays, sold out national tours, and have released tracks through labels Owsla, Spinnin', Armada, and Universal. They launched a joint label, BredNButter, with YouTube channel Trap City. BredNButter's releases have amassed millions of plays in total in a little over a year of existence. They also founded Identity Festival, a festival celebrating Asian American Heritage with the City of Los Angeles on the steps of City Hall which gathered over 10,000 attendees in 2018 with headliners Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and K-pop singer Jay Park.
Musical career[edit]
2003–2007: Folk Music[edit]
The three original members of Far East Movement, Kevin Nishimura (Kev Nish), James Roh (Prohgress), and Jae Choung (J-Splif), grew up in the Downtown Los Angeles area. They were close companions in high school and shared a passion for music together. The trio promoted their music online and began performing at local clubs and events in Los Angeles; soon, they began their musical career with the name "Emcees Anonymous" by 2001. However, they later changed it to Far East Movement or FM, originating from a song that they produced with the same name.[6] In 2003, they organised an event called "Movementality" in Koreatown, Los Angeles, featuring ten different performances with all the proceeds sent to a local youth drug rehabilitation center.
In 2005, Far East Movement released a mixtape called Audio-Bio, which was one of their first CDs and contained many of their earliest songs and many songs not available anywhere else. Their first album, titled Folk Music, was released in early 2006.[7] The single "Round Round" was featured in the film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, appearing both on the self-titled soundtrack and video game. This critical breakout was the catalyst that cemented their decision to pursue music as a full-time career.[8] Their songs "Get Offa Me" and "Make Ya Self" were featured in The Fast and the Furious video game. They proceeded to perform on two world tours (including USA, South America, Canada, and Asia), and they signed distribution deals in Japan and Korea with Avex Network and JF Productions for their album.
In 2007, they were featured in the Sundance Film Festival film called Finishing the Game, making the song "Satisfaction" for the film. They also released the single "You've Got A Friend" featuring Lil Rob and Baby Bash, which became their first song on major national radio.