After a whirlwind of success on the Billboard Hot 100 over the past year, Los Angeles hip-hop group Far*East Movement is hoping to release its bass-heavy sophomore album on Interscope/Cherrytree early next year, the act’s Kev Nish tells Billboard.com.
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“We want to deliver it in the next two months, at least, to the label,” Nish says, noting that he and other Far*East Movement members Prohgress, J-Splif and DJ Virman are spending the next few weeks in Los Angeles working on new material. “After they give it a listen we’ll see where they want to take it — hopefully early 2012.”
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Last October, the Asian-American group released its debut album, “Free Wired,” which has sold 162,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set’s unforgettable smash hit “Like A G6” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 last fall and the track has sold 3.7 million downloads. The second single, “Rocketeer” (featuring Ryan Tedder), peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 in February and has sold 1.5 million downloads.
The follow-up to “Free Wired” will feature a “heavy trunk bass sound for the dance floor,” Nish says. “To accentuate the bass,” he adds, “we bought an old school refurbished 1989 Cadillac limo. I used to install car stereos, so I’m going to hook up the system myself and we’re going to take all of our songs in this car and drive around in L.A. and vibe out.”
“We’ll have a few songs that show the hip-hop roots and the ‘Rocketeer’ style, and heavy synth dance tracks as well,” Nish continues. “But the majority of the album is going to be the L.A. dirty bass sound.”
Far*East Movement is currently working with producers David Guetta, Bangladesh, the Stereotypes, Cherry Cherry Boom Boom and “a bunch of new, unknown producers,” Nish notes. The act was working on song sketches from their downtown L.A. apartments at press time.
“We keep it old school, do all the rough tracks out of our apartments,” Nish says. “Then we take it to a studio in West L.A. — the Stereotypes’ studio — and do the final cuts.”
Nish declined to reveal which artists Far*East Movement plans to collaborate with on the new album, but says they’re currently in talks with Lil Wayne. The group recently forged a relationship with the rapper while performing on his North American summer tour from July through September. “He’s talked about getting on a song for sure,” Nish says.
Meanwhile, on Saturday (Oct. 1), Far*East Movement and film production crew Wong Fu Productions will stage their charity-focused International Secret Agents concert at Long Beach’s Harry Bridges Memorial Park on the Queen Mary. In addition to Far*East Movement, the event will feature B.o.B, Sean Kingston, singer Cathy Nguyen, comedian Kevin Wu, and YouTube star Ryan Higa.
A portion of ticket sales proceeds will be donated to youth educational nonprofit 4C the Power. Tickets are available at ISAtv.com or at this link.
Since 2008, Far*East Movement and Wong Fu Productions have staged ISA concerts in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Nish says the act has worked with 4C the Power through the years and has even participated in workshops.
“We’d go and teach workshops and try to inspire kids, especially with budgets being cut in schools,” he says. “The first that goes out is music and anything creative.”