Planet Asia is well known throughout the hip-hop community. It wasn’t always like that – he was determined to hit the big time.
After moving to the Bay Area, Planet Asia hooked up with Rasco and formed the rap duo Cali Agents. Following the independent album release“How the West Was Won,” major labels started to call. The Source Magazine named him First Round Draft Pick and gave him their Independent Album of the Year award for“How Was the West Was Won” in 2000. He was even nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award for his collaboration with hip-hop diva Mystic on “W.” His collaborations have included everyone from Black Thoughtof The Roots, BT, the Dub Pistols, Talib Kweli, andGhostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan. His versatile skills on the mic resulted in a collaboration with the multi-platinum selling rock group Linkin Parkon their hugely successful “Re-Animation” LP.
Asia’s perseverance soon landed him a record deal with Interscope Records. Coming from Fresno California, not many people make it out to a huge record label, home to some of the biggest artists in the world, like 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Eminem. However, being signed to one of the largest labels in the world has its drawbacks.
Camp Lo
Unsatisfied with the destinction of being the most underated hip-hop duo of their time, Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede collectively known as Camp Lo are preparing Another Heist. Camp Lo made their first appearance in 1996 on The Great White Hype soundtrack, with their single “Coolie High”. The smooth party song was a minor hit, peaking at 25 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. Their first major exposure came with the release of their second single, the upbeat, horn driven “Luchini AKA This Is It”. The song became a crossover hit in 1997, breaking into the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching the top 5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. The duo released their debut album Uptown Saturday Night in January 1997. The effort was widely acclaimed, praised for their light accessible content and their smooth, funk and jazz inspired production. Despite a classic blaxploitation style and sound was far ahead of it’s time. There was no neo-soul or fly vintage gear. Hip Hop was backpacks and timbo’s while Camp Lo was taking it Uptown. Named after the 1974 Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby comedy, Uptown Saturday Night was produced primarily by Camp Lo’s third member Ski who made a name for himself through his work on Jay-Z’s album Reasonable Doubt. “Luchini” was a crossover success, breaking top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and top 5 on the Hot Rap Singles Chart. Naturally going against the grain in their daily lives as individuals, as a team, the lyrics and sounds of legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Marvin Gaye are a major influence of Camp Lo’s vintage yet timeless sound. Such a well-rounded background in music, film, fashion, and spirituality leads to the timelessly soulful sound of their tracks, a sound which clearly appeals to the masses. Believed to be kindred souls, the connection between Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba was strong long before they ever met. Having variations of the same name, dating back to Muslim upbringings and carrying impressively, optimistic perspectives on life as well as an immense fascination with the fashion and lingo of the Blaxpoitation era- although they grew up in the typically survivalist vibe of Bronx, NY- this pair was meant to come together. Though Profile would release Uptown Saturday and the classic Luchini 12″ the groups contract was sold within a year to Arista after Profile ceased to release hip hop music. Aristare-released uptown Saturday Night a year later and confined Camp Lo to making music that they had no desire to record. The Arista recordings were never released and Camp Lo quickly got out of their contract with Arista. Following the success of Uptown which included guest appearances by De La Soul’s Trugoy and Digable Planets’ Butterfly. The album’s 70s-style content was influential on a number of artists within the next few years after its release, like Will Smith, who enlisted Camp Lo for an appearance on his top-selling Big Willie Style album. Also in 1997, they appeared on Oran “Juice” Jones’ single “Poppin’ That Fly”. Camp Lo then jumped at the chance to produce the double-sided single, “Cookers” and “Trouble Man” on Stimulated/Loud Records. That enabled them to move forth into the realm of independently produced music of their own, as they had planned originally. In recent years, Camp Lo has been spending their time making their name known and solidifying their worldly fan base. Their tours have taken place around the States, in Germany, London, and Japan and have consistantly been in the studio having appeared on Aesop Rock’s “Limelighters,” from hiss Bazooka Tooth album, Life Savas”Gutterfly” which was heard throughout 2007′s NBA playoffs as part of the GMC Truck Campaign. More recently they appeared on Kids in the Halls LP and in summer 2007 the duo released Black Hollywood on independent label Good Hands. Black Hollywood paired Camp Lo’s vintage 70′s soul sound with a classic 80′s hip-hop sound that made for a truly great hip-hop release that went under the radar due to the lack of a video or major publicity. Their current and most promising endeavor is a new deal with SRC/ Universal records. The first new single and video titled “Lumdi” was produced by Korleon and co-produced by The Apple Juice Kid. Ski is still a part of the project will influence a new generation of listeners. The singlewill be featured on the SRC/Universal release A Piece of the Action, the long awaited sequel to the classic Uptown Saturday Night scheduled for a March 2009 release. In the meantime Camp Lo has put together a web presence through blogs, videos, remix contests, a monthly newsletter and exclusive on-line EP to wet their fans appetite for more original material. As a treat for those fans, Camp Lo is releasing an album of unreleased and new material that didn’t fit A Piece of the Actions very strict standards and releasing the album this winter thru Traffic Distribution on the groups SOULFEVER imprint. The group is looking forward to being a part of hip-hop’s resurrection and return to it’s classic sound and foundations. This go around they are hopefully not too far ahead of their time.
