When Tha Shaman (Elliot Tsai, 蔡一暐) and Vast (Kyle Sveinson) of THC (Taipei Hip-hop Crew, H中P在台北) were left without their third member, Babble On (Zachary Touzin) for a few months while he was on vacation in Canada, they didn’t waste any time waiting around.
Shaman and Vast set to work on creating an album of Shaman’s material called Shamanizm. The release party is tomorrow at Deep Passion, and features guest artists Foreign Affairs and DJs Mixter T and Gemini.
“It’s possible if he [Babble On] hadn’t left, we’d be focusing on the next THC album, but I’m always working on my own material,” said Shaman. “I was ready. I had tonnes of songs, Vast had tonnes of beats; it just made sense.”
The album was a collaborative effort between Vast, new THC member A-Chien (敬咀) on two tracks and Babble On, who emceed in French.
The album features guest vocals and two tracks created with New Hong Kong Hair City’s Mac Wooley on saxophone, Mike Tennant on bass, and Kyle Bajcer on drums, all of whom will play live at the release party.
THC has expanded from its founding three members to six MCs and two DJs now.
“There’s no way I could have done it by myself,” Shaman said. “I’m really lucky that the whole crew supported me.”
The album is “very much like me” said the American-born, half-Taiwanese artist. “English and Chinese, American and Taiwanese culture, all mixed together.”
The crew incorporated samples from Star Trek and old Chinese marital arts movies into some of the tracks.
Shaman started off with a surplus of material, which he found difficult to cut down for a single album. “I have a lot to say — I don’t talk much compared to most people,” he said. “This is my method of communication.”
Shaman attributes his approach to music to being a Sagittarius, as they are “into broad communication,” an esoteric reference that is only the tip of an iceberg of mysticism, conspiracy theory and new age beliefs that he espouses.
“Every person is connected to certain deities,” he said. “They represent different archetypal entities.” In his lyrics he deals with “underlying themes of pain, love, power, freedom, spirituality and party music.”
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