Chinese Man
Chinese Man is a collective French trip hop band created in 2004 and originally from Aix-en-Provence. They are influenced by hip-hop, funk, dub, reggae and jazz.[1][2]
Chinese Man is composed of DJ Marseille Zé Mateo and High Ku and beatmaker SLY. Beatmakers Leo le Bug and Le Yan also revolve around the group and participate in the composition of several pieces. Frequent live additions to the crew include Taiwan MC and MC Youthstar. The group became known through the song "I've Got That Tune" which was chosen by Mercedes-Benz for its promotional campaign and by the French Film Festival in Hong Kong as its theme.[3][4]
Controversy
Chinese Man have received criticism for their name. The group is primarily composed of three Caucasian men, High Ku, Sly, and Zé Mateo, and are frequently joined live onstage by Youthstar and ASM (Green T & FP). The audiovisual content for which they are well-known is produced by Fred&Annabelle, and VYZ Team. The titular character for their music video "Miss Chang" is portrayed by Caucasian actress Clémentine Baert.
There were protests in Canada during their 2018 North American tour.[6][7] The group has explained that Chinese Man is the name of the first track the collective produced together in 2004. The track got its name from a vocal sample saying Chinese Man, and they kept that name for the band and for the related label Chinese Man Records (aka CMR).
According to the band, they also kept this name because the CMR collective express a keen general interest in Asian culture (visuals, books, movies, animation, history, etc.), and have publicly stated their intention to keep the name as a tribute to what they consider a deep, rich, and varied culture.
Like other bands such as IAM in France and the Wu-Tang Clan in the US, the CMR collective have created a graphic universe around a mythical character. Their Chinese Man character sends his disciples all around the world with a unique mission "to spread music around the world".
Discography
Albums
- 2005 : The Bootlegs Sessions
- 2007 : The Groove Sessions Volume 1
- 2009 : The Groove Sessions Volume 2
- 2011 : Racing With The Sun
- 2012 : Remix With The Sun
- "The Mourning Son" (feat. Jeru the Damaja)
- "One Past" (OBF Remix)
- "Saudade" (feat. Femi Kuti / Liliboy)
- "Stand!" extended version (feat. Plex Rock)
- "Racing With The Sun" (Deluxe Remix)
- "Down" (Scratch Bandits Crew Remix): used by "Le Before" of Le Grand Journal of Canal + in its Title sequence[8]
- "In My Room" (feat. Chali 2Na)
- "Get up" (feat. Lush One / Plex Rock / Ex-I) (LeYan & Tomapam Remix)
- "Ta Bom" (feat. Tumi / General Electriks)
- "Miss Chang" (feat. Taiwan MC / Cyph4) (Tha Trickaz Remix)
- Racing With The Sun (Iration Steppas Remix)
- "In My Room" (DJ Suv Remix)
- "The King" (The Libra Priest Suite) (DJ Simbad Remix)
- 2012 : Live à la Cigale
- 2014 : The Groove Sessions Volume 3
- 2015 : Sho-Bro
- 2015 : The Journey
- 2017 : Shikantaza
- "Shikantaza"
- "Liar" (feat. Kendra Morris & Dillon Cooper)
- "Maläd"
- "Step Back"
- "The New Crown" (feat. A-F-R-O, A.S.M & Taiwan MC)
- "Escape"
- "Stone Cold" (feat. Mariama)
- "Modern Slave" (feat. R.A. The Rugged Man)
- "Warriors"
- "What You You Need" (feat Vinnie Dewayne, Myke Bogan & Tre Redeau)
- "Wolf"
- "Blah!" (feat Youthstar, Taiwan MC & Illaman)
- "Golden Age"
- "L'aurore"
- "Anvoyé"
- "Good night"
Maxi vinyls Chinese Man
- 2004 : The Pandi Groove EP, 4 tracks
- 2006 : The Bunni Groove EP, 6 tracks including "I've Got That Tune"
- 2007 : The Indi Groove EP, 5 tracks
- 2008 : The Groove Sessions Vol.1, 14 tracks
- 2009 : Hong Kong Dragon Speaking EP, 4 tracks
- 2009 : The Groove Sessions Vol.2, 16 tracks
- 2011 : Miss Chang EP, 4 tracks
- 2012 : Racing + Remix With the Sun, 26 tracks
- 2014 : Once Upon A Time EP
- 2014 : The Groove Sessions Vol.3, 14 tracks
Maxi vinyls solos (label Chinese Man Records)
- 2008 : SLY - Small City Music EP, 8 tracks
- 2008 : Leo Le Bug - Le Pudding EP, 4 tracks
- 2010 : Leo Le Bug / LeYan - Split EP, 8 tracks
- 2012 : Deluxe - Polishing Peanuts, 6 tracks
- 2013 : Deluxe - Daniel, 4 tracks
- 2013 : Deluxe - The Deluxe Family Show, 12 tracks
- 2013 : LeYan & TomaPam - Sputnik Moment, 45T 2 tracks
References
- Birchmeier, Jason. "Chinese Man". allmusic.com. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- "Chinese Man Records Label". chinesemanrecords.com/. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- "Chinese Man Records* – The Groove Sessions Volume 1 : 2004-2007". discogs.com. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- "Chinese Man - I've Got That Tune". youtube.com. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- "Chinese Man". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- Chew, Erin (March 29, 2018). "Vancouver Protests Planned Against French Band CHINESE MAN Because It Is All White". YOMYOMF. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- "Manifestation against "Chinese Man"". ICI Tele (in French). April 1, 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- Title sequence of "Le Before" of Le Grand Journal of Canal + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhKqK3ybJcQ