The original Chinatown bad boys, Notorious MSG, recently released their new EP Lunch Money, available on their website and at iTunes. They've got to be the hardest-working restaurant workers in music. If you're not familiar with the MSG, they're badass gangsta rappers reppin' for the streets and kitchens, straight outta Chinatown. Got that, muthasuckas? Okay, not quite. I have a feeling that Notorious MSG is one of those things that got started when a group of friends just started messing around, put their joke raps on the internet, and realized they had somehow amassed a following. And they thought, hey, maybe we can actually make something out of this. So they ran with it. Thus, we have the music and antics of Hong Kong Fever, Down Lo-Mein and The Hunan Bomb—aka Notorious MSG. They're funny and ridiculous, while actually trying draw some attention to the real-life plight of your average Asian restaurant workers. The have their critics, and have often been accused of promoting racial stereotypes and ethnic buffoonery. I say there's a delicate line that separates MSG from garbage like Brandon DiCamillo's "Chinese Freestyle." And what can I say? Notorious MSG makes me laugh. Ninja Pants has good review of Lunch Money here.
