SPILL THE BEAT: Dive into JAMES AN’s vibe

12 March 202115 March 2021 kstvwaterice

“My music consists of introspective lyricism and various melodic sounds that encompass a spectrum of emotions.” – JAMES AN

Discover JAMES AN, a mood, a voice, beautiful ambitions and a lot of upcoming activities for March and April.

(KSTATION TV advises you to play artist’s songs for a better reading experience !)

~ The matter of lyrics and its atmosphere :

Born as JUNG HO AN, in South Korea in 1992, today’s artist has decided to promote his music under his English name JAMES AN. A name, not an alias. The artist who has lived in Canada for about 10 years and has spent 6 years in the US before coming back to Korea proves that his great experience abroad offers him a wide variety of resources and references for his art. With the nice ability to speak fluently both English and Korean, all fans are welcome to enjoy his songs that he started working on in 2014.

While he lives in Canada, DRUNKEN TIGER (also named TIGER JK, member of the group MFBTY) and DYNAMIC DUO’s songs gets all over the world (due to their international journey), and during his elementary school their CDs comes in the hands of the young boy, among other artists like EMINEM, 50CENTS and more.. Rhythms, lyrics and aesthetic of these rappers catches his attention and he starts imitating, and grows some self-empowerment.

“[…] Through my love for hip hop at that time, and it had a very significant impact on me as I adjusted to the new culture and environment.” – JAMES AN

TIGER JK, the “father” of the Korean rap, became JAMES AN’s role model. An amazing guide for the young boy. TIGER JK is different, worldwide and in 2021 he celebrates his 26th year since his debut. Experienced and creative, JAMES AN have found the perfect role model that will positively make his interest in hip hop music grow over and over.

“since I was a child, and his music and philosophy really affected my vision as an artist. I truly respect him (TIGER JK) not only for his music, but his influence on Korean hip hop culture and music.” – JAMES AN

JAMES AN, from a young fan, is now an actor of his own music and adventures. Active, and experimenting on the bright side of the internet, you can find JAMES AN as an artist but also among other artists for interviews, music video, covers and some “song explained”.

Probably “versatille” is the perfect word that fits today’s artist.

“I love making music, but I also love to make different content like interview videos. I strongly believe in the power of story-telling and counter-storytelling, and have always thought that it’s important to share not only my stories, but those of others.” – JAMES AN

His “song explain” aims to understand better his lyrics, his attention and what he is targeting to translate. SPILL THE BEAT highly recommends you to have a look on his Youtube channel, where nice contents often get uploaded.

Such as exploring the world, JAMES AN also explores different styles in music and themes. Starting from a “simple”/”basic” rap style, he is now mastering his voice to create his new tracks with more melodic and soft tones.

His songs, with its own vibe.

~ We do “love the vibe” of JAMES AN:

On February 25th JAMES AN made his comeback with the song and music video “WE LOVE THE VIBE”. A 3rd music video for a 3rd official single, and one more song that you can add to your playlist for a moody atmosphere. 2 previous tracks “YOUNG” and “IMPRESSIONS” are preceded by his first mixtape “MULTIPLE SELF”, from April 2020.

“MULTIPLE SELF” is made of 14 tracks that translate JAMES AN’s inside mood. With titles such as “LUCID DREAM”, “A DREAM SUPREME” or “BEFORE WE GET FAMOUS” it’s easy to understand what the artist means when he says that:

“Most of my songs are direct and indirect expressions of my thoughts and emotions. I like to depict a variety of emotions and feelings, some of which I’ve felt were undermined or suppressed by society, such as sadness and depression. ” – JAMES AN

With a main interest for topics such as loneliness, sadness but also togetherness and happiness, it is easy to relate while listening to JAMES AN. But over feelings and thoughts, the artist is planning to develop his field of subject:

“I plan on incorporating messages and commentaries on society, especially regarding the systemic inequality and discrimination against minorities, and using my voice to dismantle racism and bring change in ways that I can through music.” – JAMES AN

JAMES AN has a special feeling toward his previous singles “YOUNG” and “IMPRESSION” even if these two songs are quite antithetic. “YOUNG” has a more positive look on getting old, gathering experience to build a bright future that fits us, as a person, not to fit society. Meanwhile, “IMPRESSION” is more likely a depressive song mainly about loneliness.

“(about the track “YOUNG”) it goes against the idea that getting older is a bad thing, and the sounds make you feel happy, but bittersweet at the same time. Especially in Korea, there’s a societal standard and notion that you gotta do certain things at a certain age. I like this song because it’s my expression of wanting to be free, and seeing things in a more positive light. I’m grateful to get old with my awesome friends, sharing special experiences and memories with them along the way.” – JAMES AN

A fresh state of mind and a fresh mood that you can also find in his most recent release: “WE LOVE THE VIBE“.

A song about the feeling, the atmosphere. When in this song the rapper refers to space, it is about the “real” space. It is quite ironic with the current pandemic situation to remember to care about the space around us, the distance, but it’s efficient.

“So in this song, my meaningful space is karaoke in Korea, and I wanted to paint the vibe I’ve felt there. In addition, I think we’ve been reminded of the importance of space especially during the pandemic. And I wanted to connect this with the themes surrounding loneliness and togetherness through a more poetic effort and attitude on my lyrics.” – JAMES AN

JAMES AN’s positivity is pretty communicative and his attitude as a human is a great example to every generation. It is pretty easy to find in him kindness and honesty. By his Youtube videos, or his love for all kind arts, his creative brain seems to be limitless.

“I think my life goal is to be able to meet my loved ones when I want to. I mean, there are many things I’d like to be able to do like making music, acting, writing poetry, contributing to education and the arts, but I’d love to be living a life in which I not only sustainably do what I want to do, but also be in a situation where I’m able to spend time with family and friends when I want. I hope I can continue to be grateful.” – JAMES AN

~ On March 16, the adventure carry on :

“MEDITATION”, here is the title of JAMES AN’s next release.

“This song is about the positive thoughts I would have when I’m at a temple, wishing happiness and the best for others. I’m really grateful and able to love myself more when I realize that I love others.” – JAMES AN

Surrounding, self-love and sharing positivity, JAMES AN is about to drop some nice vibes in our world. Winter is going away, and the warm weather starts to show up, the track sounds like it’s time for everyone to bloom and move on in a better mood. As for him, “MEDITATION” doesn’t means that you need/or you are in this soft and positive mind, but it is more like a feeling that you should revisit more often.

“ The song is titled ‘Meditation’ because the song is really about meditation on loving-kindness, but in my own way, through my lyrics and sounds.” – JAMES AN

JAMES AN have introduced to KSTATION TV a news, a mixtape will be dropped on April 14th ! But this won’t be a regular mixtape. As his life goal, JAMES AN keep working on different type of songs, moods and story to tell to his audience.

A collaborative hip hop mixtape, here is the project. After talking about togetherness in his solo songs, JAMES AN is currently working with a lot of different hip hop artists (such as MECHILLING and more to come…) to release this project.

“ I thought that working on a mixtape would be a great way for me to focus more on enjoying and freely collaborating with other rappers.” – JAMES AN

Let’s send a lot of strength and positive energy to JAMES AN for this project. Maybe someday he will be able to meet his dream collaboration with NEON BUNNY !

And what’s next ?

Currently the artist-songwriter is focusing on “making more music and enjoying the process”. Keep doing collaborative work, and not only in music ! As you can expect, during the pandemic, a lot of artists have found how important working with different people was. And like, probably 100% of artists, he is looking forward to performing on stage again.

Be creative, be daring and try everything that you have in mind, and let’s support artists who do so.

You can follow and support JAMES AN on his social media, find some support and get inspired by his upcoming tracks.