After moving to the Bay Area, Planet Asia hooked up with Rasco and formed the rap duo Cali Agents. Following the independent album release "How the West Was Won," major labels started to call. The Source Magazine named him First Round Draft Pick and gave him their Independent Album of the Year award for "How Was the West Was Won" in 2000. He was even nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award for his collaboration with hip-hop diva Mystic on "W." His collaborations have included everyone from Black Thought of The Roots, BT, the Dub Pistols, Talib Kweli, and Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan. His versatile skills on the mic resulted in a collaboration with the multi-platinum selling rock group Linkin Park on their hugely successful "Re-Animation" LP. Asia walked away from the hottest record label in the business, Interscope Records, and signed with the RED/Sony distributed independent label Avatar Records. By being signed to Avatar, Asia gets the attention he deserves without the bureaucracy of a major label. With some of the hottest producers, including DJ Khalil, Evidence, Architect, J. Wells, Jake One, and Supa Dave West, "The Grand Opening" is a true testament of Planet Asia1s lyrical prowess. Asia?s music shows depth and range with tracks like "16 Bars of Death" and "Real Niggaz" featuring Ghostface Killah. Planet Asia also proves he can mix it up with the melodious vocals of Goapele on "Upside Down." But this album is not built upon the guest appearances of others. "The Grand Opening" is Planet Asia's time to shine and he definitely rips it!