Ten years ago, Taipei nightlife was centered around the high-end clubs in the Xinyi area and a few mega-clubs. Maji Square opened with the idea of having a wide variety of restaurants and shops with Burning Man ethos. The first nightlife spot opened there, Triangle, as a House Music-only club. After a year of trying to get people there who weren’t used to traveling to the northern part of Taipei, Triangle changed directions and started hosting Hip Hop and more commercial music parties. Soon, Triangle was on fire and even hosted the Red Bull 3Style World Championships afterparty with legendary DJs like Skratch Bastid, Hedspin, and the rest of the 3style champions playing back-to-back.

More and more people started coming to Maji Square, and new places opened. Venues like Haku [formerly the Blue Rooster], Tiki Taipei, and 23 Music were part of the second wave of bars with music that brought even more people to this part of town. Nowadays, there are newer venues like XXX, Flow, Pap's Le Petit Bistro 餐酒館, Tacos & Taps, and Mr Türk 突厥先生 all playing music on weekend nights in Maji Square, rivaling some of the coolest clusters of bars in Asia like Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong or Pattaya’s Walking Street. Maji is hitting on all cylinders and it’s because of the efforts of all of these places now.

This weekend, DAMN, influenced by Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 classic album, is the newest venue in Maji Square to open. While it’ll have a Hip Hop attitude, the music will range from throwback sing-alongs to forward-sounding remixes and fresh AF mash-ups. Friday night is DJ Marcus Aurelius’ birthday party with NeKBRACE, and Saturday is Halloween with BlckTeeth and DJ Molly.

While it will take some time to fit into the madness that is Maji Square on the weekends, DAMN hopes to add some cultural clout to the area by bringing in some MCs and DJs from around Asia and worldwide to give cutting-edge performances in Taiwan.

Check out DAMN’s IG page here.