Ben Harper
Nas
Bill Withers
Sam Cooke
Cee-Lo Green
Lyfe Jennings
Gil Scott-Heron
Curtis Mayfield
Bob Marley
Chris Iijima
Jeff Buckley
Tracy Chapman
Lauryn Hill
Taiyo's music gets under your skin like a warm heartbeat. Pure as moonlight, gritty as N.Y.C., brave as a young man standing tall in the face of his own shadows. Paladin, seraph, young sage come-of-age, we welcome your songs into our dangerous, beautiful world.
-Ishle Yi Park
Taiyo tells a story that is both his and his people's, and he tells it well. There's a fearless humility that bleeds through this record. Emotion, but with substance - in a world that sees and hears too much of one without the other.
-Geologic of Blue Scholars
With Love is Growth, the singer/songwriter/MC establishes himself as a multidimensional talent with a unique creative voice that fuses the rhythms of the city that raised him with the soul of the Asian immigrant culture that birthed him.
-OkayPlayer.com
Moving swiftly and easily between so-called “genres,” lapping the hardcore MC, soulman/loverman and poet for the people two times… All hail the young prince. -Denizen Kane, excerpt from liner notes for Love Is Growth
Taiyo Na, a 25-year old renaissance man of word, sound and action, released his first full-length solo album Love Is Growth in March of 2008 through Issilah Productions.
Influenced as much by Curtis Mayfield as it is Nas, Ben Harper or Chris Iijima, Love Is Growth is a blend of gritty New York hip-hop and classic American soul. Featuring collaborations with singers Vudoo Soul, Conchita Campos and Emily C. Chang, rapper/producer Koba, jazz violinist Jason Kao Hwang, guitarists Minimum Tek of Outernational and Mark Concerto of P.I.C. and more, the album is composed, arranged and produced entirely by Taiyo. Socially conscious, often funky and always personal, the album showcases the artist’s urgency, scope and depth through songs such as the champion’s anthem title track, the pulsating introduction “One More Time” and the ethereal rock-soul ballad “Take My Breath Away.”
Born and raised throughout New York City, Taiyo first started writing rhymes at age 13 with the encouragement of high school and neighborhood friends. This passion for language, heart and rhythm led to an early journey into spoken word poetry, performing nationally with the New York-based feedback poets’ collective (2000-2003) which featured acclaimed poets Beau Sia and Ishle Park. By the time he was 18 years old, he had shared stages with Maya Angelou, Jessica Hagedorn and Janice Mirikitani, and was selected as one of the “25 Best Emerging Artists Under the Age of 25” by New World Theater’s Intersection Conference in 2002.
Increasingly driven by melody and groove, in the next few years Taiyo found himself building a name as an emcee, singer and songwriter within New York City’s independent music scene. Having performed for festival crowds of over 10, 000 to intimate venues throughout the East Coast, notable accomplishments include a guest performance for Helen Zia’s Asian American Renaissance Conference, a featured night at Lincoln Center, two appearances on Kevin So’s celebrated album A Brighter Day, and an opening performance for 9-time Grammy Award-winning Eddie Palmieri.
Like the Latin American soul music of Palmieri and La Lupe generations before, Taiyo Na’s Love Is Growth marks the emergence of an Asian American soul music, most notably in songs such as “Lovely To Me (Immigrant Mother)” and “Kasama.” It is a distinct American music—African and European in its roots—and now Asian in its perspective. In an American pop culture that often doesn’t see Asian people as performing artists, time will only tell if the mainstream is ready for more diversity. Two things, however, are for certain: Taiyo represents an entire movement of young Asian American musicians creating a voice all their own, and Love Is Growth is the latest charge forward.
Cheers champ, an honour having you here, be well, and do enjoy the library/blog's contents, here's hoping that it'll inspire you, as your creative spirit has inspired mine, sweet dreams then...
Hi! Thanks for the add and visit my photography page! A new friend always welcomes to share thought & idea with my photography. Feel free to stop by whenever you have time. By the out, your music are great! Keep them coming! Now, you know what to do when you get to my page. Come again…. Smile & Laugh --> Watub
Taiyo, it was great to meet you and to see your performance yesterday (May 17, 2008) at the Chinese Culture Festival at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ. I look forward to seeing you again.
finally, {m}aganda magazine issue 21: legal will be available may 3rd! come celebrate.
please consider reading/sharing your piece/ artwork with the community at this event. email us by april 30th at m21reception@gmail.com for details.
our campus is accessible via BART (downtown berkeley stop) and buslines (AC Transit 51, 40, 43, 52, F, 7, 9, 65, hella!) tilden room is on the 5th floor of the MLK student union building at the corner of bancroft and telegraph.
on top of all this, we will raffle away back issues frequently throughout the program, for next to nothin. our backstock must go; it must be with the community where it belongs.
taiyo! what i wanted to say was... first time i heard 'lovely to me' was a capella at reclaim ii (sh!t 2 years ago now) and it touched me. then i heard it again at your album release party and it brought me to tears. you've got so much heart taiyo!!! stay up!!! ~leah