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 at #1 on 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.
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
2003–2007: Folk Music
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.
2008–2009: DJ Virman and Animal
DJ Virman performing with FM in San Diego
LA's radio station Power 106 DJ, DJ Virman, came to the group as their official DJ. They released another single titled "Lowridin" that received heavy airplay in 2009. Soon after, they planned on showcasing a second album, releasing Animal later on in the same year. Animal featured three hit singles that frequently won national radio play: "You’ve Got A Friend", "Lowridin", and the successful "Girls On The Dance Floor". "Girls on the Dance Floor" reached 27 on the Billboard chart for the Latin Rhythm Airplay, which marked their debut on the Billboard's charts.[9]
There were several collaborations on the Animal album, including The Stereotypes, Lil Rob, Baby Bash, Wiz Khalifa, Bionik, 24/8, IZ, DB Tonik,Jah Free, and Bruno Mars, that made his first appearance on an official track for the first time on the track "3D".[10] Their songs from the Animal album were featured in major film and television on multiple occasions. FM's single "Girls on the Dance Floor" has been played on MTV's America's Best Dance Crew on the Season 4 Finale during a performance with Artistry In Motion, Vogue Evolution and We Are Heroes. It was also featured on Get Him to the Greek, FOX's So You Think You Can Dance and on the 7th episode of CSI: Miami Season 8. In addition, "Dance Like Michael Jackson" was aired on ABC Family's Lincoln Heights on November 10, 2009 and on the Gossip Girl episode, "Dan de Fleurette". "I Party" was highlighted on FOX's TV series Lie To Me and "Fetish" was on Spike TV's Guy's Choice Awards 2009. "Girls on the Dance Floor" has attained over 5 million hits on Myspace while attracting over 8 million views on YouTube.
Streetwear company Orisue teamed up with Far East Movement and helped shoot a music video for "Lowridin". In May 2009, Far East Movement joined the Korean hip hop group Epik High on their "Map the Soul" tour throughout the U.S. Then they held their first headlining concert at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood by July 2009, which resulted in a sold-out show. Together with Wong Fu Productions, FM has established another three sold-out "International Secret Agents" concerts titled as "ISA", hosted in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York in order to promote Asian American artists in the media with performances by Quest Crew, Poreotics, Jay Park, and others.
FM's mixtape Party Animal was released on the first date of LMFAO's Party Rock Tour. Their two singles, "Girls on the Dance Floor" and "2 is Better w/ Ya Boy", garnered successful radio airplay. They later announced that they were working on a new album with Grammy nominated producers, The Stereotypes, who had produced their hit track, "Girls on the Dance Floor".
2010–2011: Cherrytree/Interscope Records and Free Wired
In February 2010, Far East Movement signed a major record deal with Cherrytree Records, a subsidiary of Interscope Records.[11] They were managed at the time by Ted Chung and Russell Redeaux of Stampede Management.
Later in the same year, the group supported Robyn and Kelis on their double headlining tour along with Dan Black, in addition to being announced as the opening act of Lady Gaga's tour on the Japanese leg of The Monster Ball Tour.[12] Furthermore, their previous hit track, "Girls on the Dancefloor" & "Fetish", was featured in Piranha 3D, yet it was not slotted into the film's soundtrack.
From September 13 until mid-October, the group was one of the opening acts for the Up In The Air Tour with Mike Posner, across various cities in North America.[13][14]
In the October 30, 2010 edition of Billboard Magazine, their single featuring The Cataracs and Dev titled "Like a G6" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as iTunes.[2] While gathering success for both their album and single, they were featured in a series of tour dates with their Cherrytree/Interscope Record label mate, La Roux, in November 2010.[16]
On November 20, it was confirmed that the group had reached the double Platinum status for "Like a G6", collecting two million in sales.[17] Their second single which was released for airplay as a follow-up to "Like A G6" was "Rocketeer", which featured Ryan Tedder.[18][19]
The group toured with Rihanna and Calvin Harris from late February to early March, as part of Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour. [21] Right after the tour ended, the group began headlining their own tour, The Free Wired World Tour. The group visited Manila, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Hamburg and Bangkok. The group were due to tour selected venues in the United Kingdom in early July but cancelled these dates due to recording commitments. However, they performed at the Barclaycard Wireless Festival on July 1 in London.
Far East Movement toured with Lil Wayne on the I Am Still Music tour.[22] On tour, the group took out a second tour bus to work on their second album under the Cherrytree Records label.[23]
2012–2015: Dirty Bass and KTown Riot
Their second major label album, Dirty Bass, was released on May 18, 2012. The lead single from the album was "Live My Life", featuring Justin Bieber. It was more successful than the original first single "Jello".[24] The single was released on February 28, 2012, with the release of the music video on March 23, 2012. The video was shot on the streets of Amsterdam, and directed by Mickey Finnegan.[25]
Far East Movement also worked with producers such as David Guetta, Cherry Cherry Boom Boom (aka Cherrytree founder/president Martin Kierszenbaum), will.i.am and RedOne. In September 2012, the group performed in Charlotte with Perez Hilton as part of the 2012 Democratic National Convention. On October 22, 2012, they released a new single, "For All" which they then performed at then President Barack Obama's re-election inauguration.
Far East Movement also performed the official theme song for the first season of the American-Japanese animated series Monsuno, which airs in the United States on Nicktoons.
In January 2013, "Get Up (Rattle)," a song by the Bingo Players on which they were featured, topped the charts in the United Kingdom. It remained at the top of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks before being dethroned by "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. "Turn Up the Love", a track from "Dirty Bass", reached the top 5 on the overall singles charts in over a dozen countries.
On April 29, 2013, Far East Movement released the song "Lovetron", featuring Travis Garland. On June 2, 2013, they released the song "The Illest", featuring Riff Raff. On January 9, 2014, they released the song "Bang It To The Curb", featuring Sidney Samson. Their EP KTown Riot was released on October 28, 2014.
2016: Identity and J-Splif's Departure
On September 21, 2016, S.M Entertainment, one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, announced that Chanyeol, from popular K-pop band EXO, would be collaborating with Far East Movement in their track "Freal Luv", which also features Tinashe and Marshmello.[26]
Nina Sky is a Puerto Rican-born musical duo based in the United States, consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single "Move Ya Body", released from their self-titled debut album in 2004, was a success, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Their most recent album, Nicole and Natalie, was released in July 2012.
Pierre David Guetta is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs polls in 2011, and throughout 2020 until 2023. In 2013, Billboard ranked his song "When Love Takes Over" as the number one dance-pop collaboration ever.
Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American record executive and record producer. He founded Cherrytree Records in 2005, a record label and management company through which he has signed artists including Lady Gaga, Sting, Keane, LMFAO, Disclosure, Ellie Goulding, Far East Movement, Feist, La Roux, the Knux, Robyn, t.A.T.u., and Natalia Kills. He has been credited on releases by Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Tokio Hotel, Feist, Ai, Samantha Fish, and Alexandra Burke.
Nicolas Jean-Pierre Patrick Dresti, better known by his stage name Space Cowboy, is a French-British singer-songwriter, DJ, and producer. Born in France and raised in England, Dresti first recorded in 1992 under the names of Vibes and DJ Apex, releasing breakbeat hardcore tracks. He then changed his stage name to Nicky Fabulous and produced a four track extended play, Pussy Galore in 1995. He has recorded under various pseudonyms including: DJ Supreme, Kings of Rhythm, Loop Da Loop, and DJ Chrome. In 2002, Dresti changed his stage name to Space Cowboy and did a cover of Prince's song, "I Would Die 4 U." In 2003, Space Cowboy debuted his first studio album Across the Sky. On 22 June 2005, he released his second full-length album Big City Nights and his third album, Digital Rock, the next year. Digital Rock Star, a re-release of Digital Rock, debuted as his fourth studio album on 20 October 2009.
Ryan Benjamin Tedder is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman and lead vocalist for the pop rock band OneRepublic, while also serving as a prolific contributor—by songwriting and production—to material for other artists since the mid-2000s.
LMFAO was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu is Gordy's grandson and the son of Redfoo's half-brother, Berry Gordy IV, Gordy's son with his first wife Thelma Coleman.
The Paradiso Girls were a girl group created by Robin Antin, and were a European spin-off of Antin's other girl group The Pussycat Dolls. The members come from a number of countries: Chelsea Korka from the United States, Aria Crescendo from France, Lauren Bennett and Kelly Beckett from the United Kingdom and Shar Mae Amor from the Philippines. They were signed to Interscope Records. Their debut single "Patron Tequila" featuring Lil Jon and Eve was released on May 12, 2009 and reached position 3 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. Following uncertainty from their label, the group disbanded in 2010.
Kim Hyo-yeon, known professionally as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and DJ. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of the most widely known K-pop groups worldwide. She has since participated in other SM Entertainment projects, including Girls' Generation-Oh!GG and Got the Beat. Hyoyeon also released solo singles: "Mystery" (2016), "Wannabe" (2017) prior made her solo debut as HYO with the single "Sober" in 2018.
Perfectionist is the debut studio album by English singer Teddy Sinclair, under the name Natalia Kills. It was released on 1 April 2011 by will.i.am Music Group, Cherrytree Records, KonLive and Interscope Records. Despite having started out as an actress, Sinclair later became a rap artist and released a single in 2005; however, her label went bankrupt. Songwriting remained her principal activity until 2008, when she was signed by will.i.am and started recording the album.
Free Wired is the third studio album and major label debut of American group Far East Movement, released on October 12, 2010, by Cherrytree Records and Interscope Records.
Colette Mary Carr is an American musician and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Carr's debut album, Skitszo, a collection of previously released digital EPs, was released on July 9, 2013. "Never Gonna Happen", the fifth single from the album, was released May 5, 2013, and reached the number eleven spot on Billboard's Dance-Club Chart. Her musical style has been compared to Dev and Little Boots.
"Rocketeer" is a song by American hip hop and electronic music group Far East Movement from their third studio album, Free Wired (2010). The song features vocals by American singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. It was released in the United States as the second single from the album on October 9, 2010, by Cherrytree and Interscope Records. According to the group, the song regards "flying to make those dreams happen for the one you love". They also cited the song was inspired by themselves as "LA Dreamers living on a dream and never knowing where it would take you".
The discography of Far East Movement, an American electronic pop rap group, consists of five studio albums, four extended plays, five mixtapes, thirty-six singles and thirty-nine music videos. The group formed in 2003 in Los Angeles and released their first mixtape, Audio-Bio, in 2005, with their first studio album Folk Music following in 2006. One of the songs from Folk Music, "Round Round", brought the group their first major exposure after its use in the film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The release of their second studio album, Animal, brought the group to the attention to the Interscope Records subsidiary Cherrytree Records, who signed them.
Space Cowboy is a French-British DJ and producer. He has released four studio album, two extended plays, five singles, and one music video.
"Live My Life" is a song by American group Far East Movement from their fourth studio album Dirty Bass. The song was released on February 25, 2012, as the album's lead single. It features vocals from Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The song was produced by RedOne and De Paris.
Dirty Bass is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Far East Movement, released through Cherrytree Records and Interscope Records on June 12, 2012. Despite having two top 40 hit singles, the album received mixed success worldwide.
Skitszo is the debut studio album by American singer-rapper Colette Carr, which was released as a whole on July 9, 2013 through Interscope. The album consists of four digital EPs, each featuring four songs, released two months apart. The full album includes all the songs from the EPs, plus four new ones.
"The Illest" is a song by American hip hop group Far East Movement. The song was co-written and produced by Norwegian music producer and songwriter Axident and Wallpaper. aka Ricky Reed, and features a guest appearance from American rapper Riff Raff. It was released digitally as a single on July 2, 2013 and has since peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot Rap Songs. "The Illest" was featured as a bonus track and a single from the 2013 Special Edition release of their fourth studio album Dirty Bass.
"Paris to Tokyo" is a song by American rapper Fivio Foreign and Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi. It was released through Columbia Records as a single on July 8, 2022, and was added to Fivio's debut studio album, B.I.B.L.E., exactly one week later. The song was solely produced by SB and samples Far East Movement's 2010 single, "Rocketeer", which features Ryan Tedder. On July 1, 2022, exactly one week before the song was released, Fivio and Laroi performed it live for the first time at Wireless Festival in London.
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