Phanit “Memo Jackson” Duong is a multi-faceted music artist and entertainer. Based in the cultural iconic neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed Stuy) in central Brooklyn, New York, Memo delivers raw yet playful lyrics blended in a myriad of mainstream and underground musical influences. Seven years in the game, Memo has performed in over four States and received over 1.5 million online download plays.
Memo’s artistic beginnings started in the “Red Apartment Projects” in Kelso, Washington, a small town approximately 30 miles north of Portland, Oregon. “Back then, it was either joining gangs or doing music,” said Memo, a son of Cambodian refugees. At 15-years-old, Memo joined his high school choir and began recording songs off his mother’s karaoke machine and Cool Edit Pro. As his interest grew, so were his childhood friends – Alin, DBL, Srizzle, and McNub – who began making original beats and composing original lyrics. But it was not until age 21 where Memo took his craft more seriously by investing his salary towards professional equipments.
“I bought my first real microphone – the Audio Technica 2020 for $200 – doing backbreaking labor,” said Memo.
Now at 28, and over 75 tracks under his music portfolio that includes successful singles like Dime and Be with Me and collaborations with Southstar, praCh, and JL Jupiter, Memo’s main focus is finishing his first true full length album entitled, Plz Confirm.
What are confirmed in the forthcoming album will include Memo’s past and current music influences. A product of the late 1980s and 90s, Memo grew up around artists such as Stevie B, Bone Thugs & Harmony and Michael Jackson. The latter, as evident in the adoption of his stage name, was heavily inspired not just by his style, but the very characteristic that artists today lacks.
“I am not just an artist who can flow in different genres, but I am also a performer,” said Memo, who had an illustrious childhood break dancing and doing jump kicks as a certified black belt martial artist. “I want to bring fun back to performance.”

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