Far East Movement‘s upcoming album, Identity, focuses on identity, Asia and America.
The internationally collaborated album brings together the east and west, boasting stars from Korea, America and the UK.
Standout collaborators include Tiffany of K-pop superstars Girls’ Generation, the U.K.’s “Never Forget You” singer-producer MNEK, Korean-American MC Jay Park, Mississippi rapper-producer Big K.R.I.T., Hyolyn of K-pop hitmakers Sistar, veteran soul siren Macy Gray, groundbreaking Korean rapper-singer Yoonmirae, viral MC Soulja Boy, K-R&B act Urban Zapaka, and many more.
Speaking to Billboard, the Far East Movement boys said, “identity has always been an issue with us, from how we perceive ourselves as Americans to how people actually see us, and how Asia sees us as foreigners while people in the U.S. might think Asia is home to us.”
The hip-hop EDM group said that the music industry tried to deter them from incorporating too many Asian elements in their music during their early days, “when we were first starting in the music industry people would telling us to wear glasses and change our name from Far East movement because it’s ‘too Asian.’ It was a different time, but that type of stuff stays with you and affects your perspective.”
The group also discussed how their recent travels have inspired their latest work, “we decided to disconnect, work on building our production and writing skills, spend time traveling around Asia learning the music scene, the business culture and proper customs. The trips gave us some real clarity on our own identity and what we want to do next in our own lives, which gave us the inspiration to make a new album.”
“Identity is a Far East Movement, in a sense, bridging artists from the east with artists from the west while fusing different genres we love.”
The band has just released a music video for their lead track from Identity, ‘Freal Luv’, which features California R&B-pop star Tinashe, mysterious DJ Marshmello, and Chanyeol, a rapper in K-pop boy band phenom EXO.
The full album drops worldwide on 21 October 2016.
See the full track list below:
1. Far East Movement, “Fighter” ft. Yoonmirae & Autolaser
2. Far East Movement x Marshmello, “Freal Luv” ft. Chanyeol & Tinashe
3. Far East Movement, “F-VR” ft. Candice Pillay & No Riddim
4. Far East Movement, “Church” ft. Elijah Blake
5. Far East Movement, “Don’t Speak” ft. Tiffany & King Chain
6. Far East Movement, “SXWME” ft. Jay Park (Prod. MNEK)
7. Far East Movement, “Umbrella” ft. Hyolyn & Gill Chang
8. Far East Movement, “Double Dip” ft. Soulja Boy & Loco
9. Far East Movement, “FBG$” ft. Big K.R.I.T. & MIKNNA
10. Far East Movement, “Forever Survivor” ft. Macy Gray
11. Far East Movement, “Fortress” ft. Urban Zakapa
