Kalistani Major History

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Immigrant Mic Control drops Sophomore Album "kung-fu theatre"
Critics call record "Hip Hop Masterpiece"
Sulari, Suldanor
April 7, 5367


"kung-fu theater" seen as the first Hip Hop Concept Album

The internationally massive Hip Hop trio Immigrant Mic Control have spent the better part of the last three years touring and recording tracks for their new ARC release "kung-fu theatre". But now that the album is released, the album has been reviewed as a "Hip Hop masterpiece", "the first Hip Hop Concept Record" and "An instant classic." "kung-fu theatre" has debuted at Number 1 on both the Album Charts and the lead single "Desperados" hit number 1 on the Music 1 Hot 100 poll. The new album is officially the best selling Hip Hop album in Kalistani History, and it is only in its second week on the charts.

The band, of course was not in the Republic to celebrate the triumph of the record's success. They were at the Clovispoint Likatonia show when they got the news. Tophe, "kung-fu theatre"'s producer announced the fact that the debut hit Number 1 to a wildly cheering crowd of more than 45,000 fans: "I just got the word, yo: you are listening to the Number 1 song in the world right now!" as the band launched into a rawkus rendition of Gunslingers, joined on stage by Lady T, Ratatat, Ghost Rawk and Mike "MG" Givvens, all of whom are featured on the track, and who flew to Likatonia to join the tour.

The smash hit of the record gives the band momentum as they head into FOMAT. "We have been on the road, and in the studio and we are so tight as a band and as a live act," said Lora Monte, who has recently adopted the pseudonym Queen L. "We're definitely ready for Lourenne. Win or lose, we are gonna ring some bells in Iztapalata."

One of the most innovative things about this record is that it treats each song as an episode in a midnight martial arts movie. "We were kind of focused on this idea that when we go out, a lot of the stuff they play late at night are like imports from Indrala, where they have great action but the dubbing is done like really cheaply," said Michel-Guillaume Brenard. "Like really bad. And so we come from this history of watching dudes in the street talking mad sh-t about how awesome they are and we were like Hip Hop is always kind of like a battle between two martial artists. While the fung-fu cinema features the artistry of martial actions like kung fu and everything, we wanted to feature music that is like the battles inherent within art, specifically hip hop, but present it in a way that we are used to when we watch cheap Indralan cinema that is like a 5 minute long battle for no reason in the middle of a funny movie about some dude getting in trouble with his dad who is also a martial arts instructor."

The result was a 15 track album, with few gaps between songs, and several skits that serve to highlight different activities that young men and women in Kalistani cities get into. "These scenarios are basically fictionalized scenarios that happen on the block every day," said Tophe. "Dudes bragging, girls gossiping about who's smashing, uh you know, we got one where these old dudes are talking about playing chess in the park like it is battle of the titans out there. And all the songs are about surviving, jumping through back yards, or getting caught sleeping with someone who ain't your girl, that kind of stuff. Its funny in a lot of ways, because live in places like Dulnerstaad or Port Swedes can be really hard, and you gotta just laugh at it."

On the production side, Tophe got high marks for his music production. Most critics said that his sound scape brings the the album to an almost visual level, while others praised atmospherics on the record, and some noted that the use of three dimensional sound could make a listener almost feel like they are right there in the record. "kung-fu theatre" is an experience, agreed most music critics, not just a run of the mill hip hop record. Most called it the best album of the decade, and some even referred to it as the best album ever recorded. "With 'kung-fu theatre' Immigrant Mic Control set the bar so high it is highly unlikely that we will see its equal in this lifetime," said Jill Mendez writing reviews for The Kalistani Republic. Her priase for the record was universally echoed in the Kalistani music press.

Now that the album is released, the next move for the band is to finish recording footage for their Concert Film. Principle filming is expected to wrap up at FOMAT, and then it will likely be six to ten months before the film is released to Kalistani audiences. Meanwhile, there are the remaining dates on the tour: The band will finish their tour at FOMAT in six months, taking some time off before the Keris shows in Kizenia and Endralon, and then again between the Lodamun and FOMAT shows.

For the next six months, Immigrant Mic Control will have the entire Republic behind them, and the hope is that this momentum will score them points with the judges at FOMAT. We will see, but meanwhile, you can check out "Desperados", by Immigrant Mic Control, featuring Lady T, Ghost Rawk, Ratatat, and MG.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhWbXpjn-OU]