The Chinaman (album) explained

The Chinaman
Type:studio
Artist:Fresh Kid Ice
Cover:The_Chinaman_a_Fresh_Kid_Ice_Album.jpg
Released:July 15, 1992
Studio:Luke Recording Studio (Liberty City, FL)
Genre:Hip hop
Producer:Fresh Kid Ice
Fat Daddy
Eddie Miller
Shake G
DJ MadMan
Next Title:Still Nasty
Next Year:2000

The Chinaman is the first studio album by American rapper Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won) of the 2 Live Crew.[1] It was released on July 15, 1992, by Effect Records.

Wong Won started to work on the album in 1992, because he was troubled with the direction 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell was taking and wanted to stay away.

It reached number 38 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and No. 56 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was the first American hip hop album to embrace having an Asian heritage.

Production

Wong Won said he took on the project in 1992, because he wanted to distanced himself from 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell, who at the time had a beef with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. He felt it was awkward and out of place since all previous interaction with them had been friendly, hence he suggested a solo project to his label, and started it without a budget. He also said, without taking an advance, all beats were programmed in his garage with friends and artists he produced, they went into the company's studio and recorded it and that it sold over 200,000 copies with very limited promotion. The singles were"Dick 'Em Down," "I'll Be There," and "Freak 'Em Down" (the clean version of "Dick 'Em Down").[2]

Charts

On the Billboard charts, the album peaked at No. 38 and stayed two weeks on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The Chinaman was also on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for ten weeks, peaking at No. 56.[3] [4]

Legacy

The Chinaman is the first American hip hop album to embrace an Asian heritage. It inverts the stereotypes into prideful declarations of self-identity.[5]

Personnel

Luther Campbell

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bynoe . Yvonne . Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture . 2006 . Bloomsbury Academic . 392.
  2. Book: Wong Won, Christopher "Fresh Kid Ice". July 20, 2015. Iconic Three Media Group, LLC. 2712–2744. 28. The Chinaman (1992). B010NY9W06.
  3. Heatseekers Albums Fresh Kid Ice Is The Chinaman . https://web.archive.org/web/20220411001516/https://www.billboard.com/artist/fresh-kid-ice/chart-history/tln/ . April 11, 2022 . Billboard.
  4. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Fresh Kid Ice The Chinaman . https://web.archive.org/web/20220410231300/https://www.billboard.com/artist/fresh-kid-ice/chart-history/blp/ . April 10, 2022 . Billboard.
  5. Web site: Schwartz . Zachary . 2015 . A brief history of Asians in hip-hop, from 2 Live Crew to "It G Ma" . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151203044659/http://www.playboy.com/articles/asians-in-hip-hop-2-live-crew-it-g-ma . December 3, 2015 . November 20, 2015 . Playboy.