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Drunk: Twenty-four herbs is a local drink. I thought of “24Herbs” because of all our different backgrounds, all blended together.
Ghost Style: It’s really bitter, but it’s good for you—just like our music.
Phat: Kit and I were in [seminal Cantonese hip-hop group] LMF, and these guys were our cheerleaders.
Drunk: I met Brian through doing X Games, and Eddie through his wife. I said, “Want to produce some rap?”
Kit: A year later we still hadn’t got anything done.
Phat: We didn’t really know each other and sat in the studio not doing a lot. Eddie and Conroy came up with an idea—“Why not use half a year to become friends?”
Drunk: We thought we would start writing in a studio, but it turned into going out drinking and eating. We were out every single week.
Phat: It’s like dating and getting to know each other—holding hands and stuff like that. But we didn’t know if we were serious enough to sleep together. We were trying to find a way to see if we could work together, and what roles we each had to have.
Ghost Style: I think everyone represents their own rap in the group, so it’s hard to compare. Each person talks about different things from their perspectives.
Kit: Not enough people listen to hip-hop in Hong Kong.
Ghost Style: If you look at hip-hop in general, there aren’t rap groups anymore. Everyone’s a solo rapper. For there to be six of us, it’s kind of special. The advantage is that there’s a lot of support. We do stuff together and everyone moves as a group.
Drunk: It’s pretty impressive in the sense that you have six big guys [on stage] without taking our clothes off like the Chippendales.
Phat: There are only about 100 people who come to watch us, and if we took our clothes off there might be none left.
Ghost Style: We met Dr. Dre when was here. He was really humble and down.
Kit: It was weird. We had dinner plans and didn’t realize he would be there. There was one table: us, Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar.
Drunk: I think we’re lucky in Hong Kong, in that it’s a place where east meets west. This is why I get irate at people who don’t love Hong Kong and complain about it. I love this place. It’s a small city, yet we have the biggest movie stars like Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat. We met Dr. Dre, and half a year ago we hung out with Snoop Dogg.
Ghost Style: [On haters] Hong Kong has so many levels. If one person lives his life that way, then it doesn’t affect my life, because I’m living my life one way too.
Kit: People like ganging up on other people. If one person starts an argument then other people want to join in.
Drunk: I’ll tell you what a real Hong Kong person is. You pay tax here, you’re a fucking Hong Kong person. So shut the fuck up. If you’re a real “local,” then so what? I live here too.
Drunk: Kids these days are moronic. They should go out and have fun. If they don’t like Hong Kong, then get the fuck out. You might not earn enough money to buy an apartment, but you can make enough to travel.
Ghost Style: I think that with anything creative like music and the arts, as long as you represent what you’re saying and you can take whatever comes, then that’s alright.
Kit: If we could change anything, we should have started 24Herbs earlier.
Phat: Next five to 10 years for 24? I think we’d all be in an old people’s home.
Drunk: Eddie and I will lead the way.
Kit: They’ll call and say, “Bring us some biscuits and tea.”
Drunk: Our attitudes come across [in our lyrics]. I don’t think any of us would want to change. We are happy people, so why would you want to change the happiness? 24 brings on the party vibes. None of this complaining bullshit. Positive vibes, you know?
24Herbs’s new single, “Hot in the 852,” is out now.




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24Herbs

Magazines

Hip-hop group 24Herbs first formed in 2006, and boasts the best rappers and producers in Hong Kong today. The group consists of Phat Chan, Brandon “Ghost Style” Ho, Kit Leung, Conroy “Drunk” Chan (L-R), as well as Eddie “Dor Yuk” Chung and Brian “Sir Eats-a-Lot” Siswojo. Having just released their new single, “Hot in the 852,” four of the six tell Andrea Lo how 24Herbs came to be, their views on kids in Hong Kong, and what it was like to have dinner with Dr. Dre.
