CHOPS is the stage name of Scott Jung, also known as Scott Chops Jung, an American hip hop producer, rapper and former member of the Asian American Hip-Hop group, the Mountain Brothers. Jung grew up in Philadelphia and has Chinese ancestry. While with Mountain Brothers, he became known for using a combination of programmed and live instruments in his work, as opposed to sampling the work of others.^[1] Since the disbanding of the Mountain Brothers, CHOPS has worked primarily as a producer, with his most high-profile piece being the critically acclaimed 2011 video for Lonely Island entitled "The Creep."^[2]

Early life

Chops and his family were constantly moving from place to place, so he rarely made any long-lasting friendships. He did share a common interest with his brother in making music. Chops' passion for making beats began with his friend from high school. His friend brought a device to school that transformed Chop's life forever. It was a drum machine, and Chops began to copy beats from his favorite song, “Walk This Way” by Run DMC. After that, making beats became his life. Since his family was constantly on the move, music was the one thing that would never change, so his mother bought him an electric keyboard and his brother a guitar. Chops always got support from his mother and brother. “My brother has a band and I do mostly key.” Chops enrolled in many music courses while attending Penn State, but did not major in music. His parents discouraged him from majoring in music because they thought it would not result in a stable career.^[3]

Strength in Numbers

After the Mountain Brothers went their own ways Chops continued producing music. After Chops became a father, he started to question how he could contribute to the world in order for it to better for his daughter. This led to Chops’ creation of the album Strength in Numbers, which consists of collaborations with talented Asian American artists and himself. Strength in Numbers was completed over a period of two years, beginning in 2011. Chops wanted this album to be a great reflection of Asian American artists with great talent. Chops wanted people to dismantle stereotypes and let the music speak for itself instead of being influenced by the way the artists look. Chops, like other Asian American artists, have felt prejudged for being incapable of creating great music because of their ethnicity. When Chops was in the Mountain Brothers, the group would step on stage and everybody would assume their music would not be good and stereotype them, but after they performed the crowd would be amazed by their talents. “I remember this one guy connected with a big label that said, ‘You know what ya should do? Wear karate suits and hit gongs, ya know what I mean? Stuff like that, stuff with yo culture.’ I was born in New Jersey man.”^[4] With relatively few Asian American rappers in the mainstream, Chops believes that this album is a way for everybody to witness that Asian Americans, like artists of all other races, have the talent and should be acknowledged. Strength in Numbers consists of the contributions of over 30 artists.

Film score composing

Chops also composed the original score for Ursula Liang's documentary 9-Man (film) (2014), about a sport played by Chinese American men in New York City. The film won a Best Documentary award at the 2014 CAAMFest, as well as a Special Jury Prize for Best Director - Documentary Feature and an Audience Award for Documentary Feature from the 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.^[5] The documentary was also nominated for the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Hawaii International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 2014 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.^[6]

Discography

References

External links

• Scott Chops Jung at IMDb
• CHOPS website
• CHOPS YouTube
• Chops at Discogs