Joey Boy

Stopped by the Gancore Club record label offices at GMM Grammy (gancore is the lethal zone in Thai boxing) this aft to talk to Thailand's biggest rapper, Joey Boy (flick above and below with rapper Nara and R&B producer Kok). The guy has put out seven records in the past decade, and has sold over 5 million units. To put those numbers in perspective, Thailand's population is only 65 million people.

A couple of years ago, he met the Black Eyed Peas in a club in the States and was invited to record with them. The result was the collabo "LA/BKK." The Peas subsequently came out to Thailand and did a show with Joey. Apparently will.i.am is obsessed with elephants (the national animal for Thailand), hence the title Elephunk.

Have listened to a fair bit of Joey's music and it's really unique. His last few outings in particular have been more experimental; he's been working consciously to expand the Thai hip-hop sound and make it more authentic.

On the business tip, dude is the Thai Jay-Z. Not only is he the most famous Thai rapper (the King of Bangkok, if you will), but he also focuses a lot of his time and energy on developing the new acts that he signs to his label. Today he told me about discovering this cat from the north. The MC didn't have money for a demo and couldn't get a hold of any beats to rap over, so he just taped himself freestyling a capella and delivered it to Joey. His name is Fucking Hero and now he is one of the most popular hip-hop artists in Thailand.