Giant Panda

Some might say Giant Panda started on the playground of Madrona Elementary School in Seattle. This is where Maanumental and Newman would bond over Yo!MTV Raps and comic books. Some would say GP started in Chikaramanga's dorm room at Pitzer College, outside of L.A., where Newman would record songs with Chikaramanga. In reality, the start of Giant Panda would be when the three guys all lived together in a one-bedroom house in Pomona, CA. This is where the three would realize that they all loved EPMD, baseball, and rice equally and that this love was enough to form a hip-hop group around. After the three moved out of that house and into L.A., they would officially begin their career as Giant Panda. The name was given to them from Maanumental's brother (and GP collaborator) Sir Kado. He came up with the name years earlier, but all parties considered it a good name for a pop punk band. But after much debate, there was no better name for a group made up of a black guy, a white guy, and an Asian guy.

With the guidance of legendary Thes One (People Under The Stairs), Giant Panda released "88 Remix" independently. The stripped down, raw drums and rap vibe of "88" led to airplay on mix shows around the world (including BBC One and Future Flavors hosted by hip-hop icons Pete Rock and Marley Marl) and critical acclaim (including London based Hip-Hop Connection's Single of the Month).

Chikaramanga and old his old friend then came up with the idea to start a label (Tres Records), centered on releases from Thes and Giant Panda. In the fall of 2005, Giant Panda released the critically acclaimed, "Fly School Reunion". Magazines such as URB (4 1/2 stars), XXL (Chairman's Choice), HHC, XLR8R, Elemental, Mass Appeal, Scratch, and numerous others all gave “Fly School” rave reviews. It also climbed to #3 on CMJ's Hip-Hop chart and got airplay on such illustrious stations as KEXP and BBC One. Giant Panda has also toured the west coast supporting People Under The Stairs and will be heading out for their first full European Tour this March (through May). From London to Los Angeles, Giant Panda’s energy has won over every crowd that they’ve been put in front of.

See for yourself: http://www.tresrecords.com/listen_watch/listen_top.php

After touring through this spring and summer, Giant Pand looks forward to recording their follow-up, tenatively titled, "Of Pandas and Of People".