Kung Faux - Releases

Releases

Kung Faux music and voice-over work was performed by hip-hop artists De La Soul, Guru, Masta Ace and Queen Latifah. Other voice-over artists include KAWS (artist), Steve Powers (artist), Crazy Legs (dancer), Elephant Man (musician), Afrika Bambaataa, Biz Markie, Jean Grae, Roc Raida, Sadat X, Ron van Clief and Harold Hunter. Kung Faux first aired nationally in 2003 as part of the inaugural launch of the Fuse music television channel in the USA, a subsidiary of Rainbow Media's AMC Networks. The first Volume (publishing) of the Kung Faux collection was released commercially in 2003 by Dubtiled Entertainment and Tommy Boy Films, along with a Special Edition art toy from the Kung Faux line of Action Figgaz titled "Break Boy", which was licensed by Art Asylum and created for their collectable line of Minimates. In 2004, Acclaim Entertainment optioned the Kung Faux video game rights for developer Blue Shift to produce before Acclaim Games ultimately filed for bankruptcy and reverted the option. In 2005, Starz (TV channel) debuted Kung Faux when the channel started to introduce unique programming to compete with rival pay TV services HBO and Showtime (TV channel). In 2006, the artist duo composed of Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse known as Gnarls Barkley did a collaborative short film with Kung Faux which aired heavily around the world on the Channel V networks owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation. In 2007, Kung Faux debuted on the Rede Globo network in Brazil, and the Nelonen network in Finland. In 2008, Kung Faux debuted in Japan on the Music On! TV network, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. In 2009, Kung Faux debuted on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network, as well as Italy's GXT network, who debuted a Remixed version of Kung Faux with the artist Eminem. In 2010, the Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner known for such films as The Family Man, Red Dragon, the Rush Hour series, and X-Men: The Last Stand, edited an English version of the Bollywood film Kites, headlining Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, using a comprehensive Remix formula originated by the international Kung Faux television series. In 2011, Kung Faux debuted in Sub-Saharan Africa on the Sony MAX network, a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Television (South Africa), where it was described as a "Boundary-Busting Action Comedy Series". In 2012, Kung Faux was prominently compared to the year's Universal Pictures theatrical release of the film titled The Man with the Iron Fists from hip-hop legend RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, co-writer/producer Eli Roth, and Presenter Quentin Tarantino, in a review by eFilmCritic.com's Rob Gonsalves, who went on to say, "The Man with the Iron Fists leaves me feeling the same way the Grindhouse (film) did, and Hot Fuzz too. - What's missing, I think, is passion - not passion for old movies, which this movie and Grindhouse have in abundance, but passion in general. For all its bloodletting and crazy action, the movie never really cuts loose. RZA never risks the excesses that sometimes made old chop-socky funny, and that Kung Faux lampooned so effectively." Gonsalves concluded, "Kung Faux wasn't the first time I was aware of the large African-American fandom devoted to chop-socky movies, but it sure was the funniest." In 2013, Kung Faux officially released a promotional soundtrack album featuring a collection of songs from G-funk pioneers, Above the Law (group); Compiled by Kung Faux series Producer and Director, Mic Neumann.