Back to Blogging

Been really busy with other things and have begun to wonder if it is worth blogging. Anyways, here are some updates:

Performing at Anime Evolution:
I will be performing at a huge Anime convention at SFU in Vancouver. Check the Anime Evolution website for more details about the event.

Featured on the cover of Chinese magazine:
I have been featured on the cover of a Chinese lifestyle and entertainment magazine produced by Pharos Media. To check out my interview inside, CLICK HERE

Recording new Chinese single:
I have finished writing my first single for China. The song will feature the vocal talents of D'arcy Zi Han who will be singing in Mandarin.

First Japanese single complete:
My first Japanese single, 'Dreams', is now complete. The song features production by ZISK from Kumamoto Japan and also Japanese vocals by Tiffa Lei. You can listen to the track on my Myspace profile.

Entering China

Today me and my good friend Li Jing(pictured above) worked on setting up an account on a Chinese social networking site called SOHU. We set up a blog and photo album for me it is so cool! We are going to continue to build more profiles for me on other popular Chinese sites and then work to draw traffic to them so I can get some fans in China.

In addition, I am going to start recruiting street team members in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai so I can get the word out about my upcoming CD release.

I'm going to be repeating these endevours in Japan and Korea as well so I will have a decent number of Asian students helping me out. I love all of my Asian friends they are always so supportive and kind to me. Best of all, they really make noise at my concerts! This is the beginning of my foray into Asian territory. More to come soon...

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

Meeting With Asian Delegates + Music Across Borders

I recently attended a couple of meeting between myself and Sean from SPM and two delegates from the Asian music industry, Nori Tsuzuki from Japan and Jake Lee from Korea. The meeting was made possible by Music BC so thanks to them for the opportunity.

The first meeting was with Jake Lee and I was extremely nervous. This guy operates two record labels in Korea and is also responsible for putting foreign music in television commercials. Me and Sean sat down with him and I noticed right away that he was a really easy-going guy, very nice. Mind you, I tend to have favorable opinions of all Koreans anyways. Nonetheless, the meeting was very productive and he gave some excellent advice on breaking into the Korean music industry. I hope to place my music in TV commercials, dramas and film in Korea as this is an excellent way for an outsider to be introduced to the Korean peoeple.

The second meeting with Nori was equally nerve-wracking for me as his company, Kyodo, is responsible for booking acts such as Madonna and Christina Aguillera in Japan. Me and Sean offered an artist booking exchange between acts on the SPM roster and some up-and-coming Japanese acts but Nori was concerned with the monetary cost of bringing Japanese acts over as they have no funding programs such as FACTOR in Japan. There is, however, a possiblity of me going over to Japan in the future and in fact I am planning on it next year. Once I have built my name up in Japan and developed a strong following there, I am sure myself and Nori can work together.

The next day there was a seminar given by both these men as well as Mr. Ding Jiabao from the Xinhui Record & Labels Group in Shanghai China. All three presentations were very informative and I especially enjoyed Jake Lee's as he added a good dose of humor as well as practical advice. I look forward to forging relationships with all three of these men in the near future.

This year it's Canada for me and next year, Asia. I am already planning my marketing campaign for both regions and am expecting to develop a large number of fans. Count on it. More updates coming soon...

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

XYL Live for Chinese New Year!

The above photo is me rockin' the Vansky Chinese New Year Party Feb.16. It was a great turnout, around 500 people. The crowd reaction was great and two girls danced on stage behind me which was obviously rad. Check out the video of my performance.

I was very impressed by all the performers that night. The general style tended to be more Chinese ballads, many of them traditional and a number of amazing voices were on display. There was some great traditional dance and also more hip-hop oriented dancing. I got to mention this girl Ying Ying, she first did a traditional dance which was amazing and later threw down a really exciting hip-hop routine. She's the really hot girl with the small pink tutu in my video. Yeah, now you're watching it.

I have to thank Scottie Cash, John Li and everyone who helped organize and work the event, the performers and also to everyone who attended. I look forward to doing more performances for the Chinese community!

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

Venue Research + Chinese New Year

Lately, I have been researching venue information in Tokyo, Japan and it is overwhelming. There are so many places to perform there you would not believe it. I spent eight hours mining an excellent information source on the net called Tokyo Gig Guide. It lists all the live music venues in Tokyo with their addresses and links to their respective websites. It is listed alphabetically and in all the time I spent I got halfway through the letter 'C'. Needless to say, there is a lot more work to be done.

My friend who is from Japan, sat down with me and went through all the websites to help me extract the required information as the sites are all written in Japanese. She also took my biography and cover letter to the clubs, previously translated into Japanese, and typed it out for me.

Getting the help of my friends is very important to me at this early stage of my career, especially in regards to building my identity in Asia. Of course, I have to make sure I focus on Canada first but I have to start organizing the Asian tour now and figure out my route, travel expenses, which clubs to play at as well as getting my name out there which is a mammoth task considering to sheer size and population of the Orient. I am continuing the Canadian tour reasearch as well and also I am preparing my marketing campaign for the release of my new EP.

I have been booked to perform at a Chinese New Years party on Friday, February 16th at the Firefighters' Club in Burnaby. I will be performing one song, my new single 'Prolly Drunk'. I was informed by the promoter that they are providing me with dancing girls, how cool is that? I am meeting him today to give him a copy of the song and the girls will be practicing so they have a dope routine prepared. Crazy... stay tuned kids, 2007 is just warming up for the X-Y-L.

XYL Official Website
XYL Myspace

This is how I live...

My name is Jesse and I am a Vancouver-based rapper called XYL(pronounced 'Exile'). In this blog I hope to let you in on my day-to-day grind to elevate my career and become internationally recognized. My goal is to blow up in Canada, the US, the Orient and everywhere else. I am particularly interested in Asia and hope to perform in China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. I am currently studying Korean and have gotten into some Japanese as well and most of my current fans are from Asia.

I generally perform in Vancouver around two to three times per month though I am trying to cut this down to once to allow me more time to focus on marketing and publicity planning and studying. I am also a show promoter and often put together the shows I am playing at. My next performance will be an event I've organized called 'Wordz From Tha Underground' on January 18th at the Lamplighter in Gastown (210 Abbott Street). Doors are at 9, Show starts at 9:30 and cover charge is 8$. Below is a Q&A with me concerning the event:

Q: What made you decide to start ‘Wordz From Tha Underground’?
A: Vancouver city is known for its hip hop. Despite that fact, there is not a lot of support for the underground rap scene here. When a big-name rap artist comes through town, the show is sold out but I have found that the same people won’t necessarily come out and support the local artists. With ‘Wordz From Tha Underground’ I am trying to raise awareness of the immense talent that exists within Vancouver. I am making every possible effort to promote this event and ensure that the artists who perform have an audience to perform to. I hope to get underground artists noticed by the public so they can gain more recognition and build their identities.

Q: How do you feel about the current state of the Vancouver live hip hop scene?
A: I know I’ve said it before but we have some serious talent here that so many people don’t even realize. MCs that would blow your mind as well as incredible DJs and producers. The majority of the live hip hop I have seen is excellent, great performances and a very unified vibe, the exact opposite of the negativity and ‘beef’ that is so often associated with hip hop music.
The only issue I have come across is low show turnout. I don’t necessarily think this is a genre-specific problem, as getting people out to live shows in Vancouver is difficult regardless of the style of music. People want name-recognition, they want to see an artist whose songs they know, they generally aren’t open to taking a chance on acts they’re never heard or seen before. With ‘Wordz From Tha Underground’ however, I am booking only quality acts so I can guarantee that as long as you dig hip hop, you will enjoy the show.

Q: What is the line-up like for the first night of the event?
A: Headlining the event we have Manik, a veteran of the local rap scene and an amazingly talented MC. He recently won the ‘Song Clash’ competition at club Sonar where 18 hip hop acts square off to show who has the best original material and stage presence. Manik also just release a video for his song ‘Commercial Drive’, based on that same famous Vancouver street.
Then there is KEEP 6, a group of MCs with serious skills. Kai, formerly of Methods of Mayhem with Tommy Lee, is producing their beats and their lyrical ability is show-stopping.
Also, I will be on the bill with my DJ Tre Funk. I have been playing live shows on the regular here and have one EP under my belt, ‘Twisted Genius’. I just finished recording a new single which I will be performing in addition to the material from my EP. I will be touring Canada in 2007 and am working to build my identity in Asia, specifically Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. I am expecting to tour those countries in 2008.
Character Traits, a 5-piece group from Nanaimo on Vancouver island will be representing and I expect them to fully kill it. They have just released their second album, ‘Pencil Pushers’, have just finished recording a video and have opened for big names such as Sweatshop Union and Kyprios.
Last on the agenda is 526 Music out of Burnaby. A little bit of hip hop, a little bit of R&B and a lot of talent. They are new on the scene but are sure to make big moves as their career develops. Hopefully ‘Wordz From Tha Underground’ can help them get noticed.

If you got the time, check out my website here: xylmc.com
And here is my myspace page: myspace.com/xylmc

I have one EP under my belt, 'Twisted Genius', which is kinda a different approach to the standard hip hop formula. I used almost all live instruments and had a live drummer lay down the beats. I dig some of the songs on there but I have decided to not press up any more copies and instead focus on my new material. The new songs I am currently working on have much higher production value and are more commercially viable. It's a struggle I've gone over in my head but the bottom line is, if I want international recognition I have to make songs that are somewhat mainstream. I have three new songs forthcoming which I will release on a promo CD and then I will be launching a marketing campaign to raise awareness as well as keep recording until I have a full-length record. Stay tuned for the new stuff, it truly does kick ass. In the meantime, you can log onto my website or myspace to hear my current material.