Rest in peace Nujabes

Nujabes in the summer of 2009
(yosuke moriya)

It was announced on Shing02's website that the Japanese hip hop producer Nujabes has passed away in a fatal car accident in Tokyo, Japan on February 26, 2010. He was 36 years old.

Nujabes was definitely one of the best that ever did it. Thank you Nujabes. You are a true inspiration and blessing. Your music will live on. Rest in peace brother.

via E22 (Shing02's website)

Today, I have very somber news for the international hip hop community, especially fans of the independent hip hop scene, and those who have followed my career.

It has been announced that Jun Seba, aka Nujabes, Japanese hip hop producer extraordinaire, passed away late February. Official statement from the label (in Japanese) here:
http://hydeout.net/hydeout/2010/03/_hydeoutproductions.html

We deeply regret the loss of a unique talent and a close friend. Through his soulful music, Nujabes has touched so many people around the world, even beyond his dreams. He was a mysterious character to most as he avoided the public limelight, rarely conducted interviews, so only a few got to know the man behind the signature production. Yet it continued to amaze me how young listeners of all backgrounds learned of his enigmatic name, and expressed support for his music.

As I write now from Japan, I had been leaving him messages the past couple of weeks, trying to get in the studio together, so the news could not have come any more unexpected. Even last week, I passed by his house and called him thinking he was still home.

I met Nujabes around 2000 and as an upcoming MC, I was fortunate to work on tracks such as Battlecry, F.I.L.O, Luv(sic) parts 1, 2 and 3. We had been working on the next trilogy of Luv(sic) over the past year (which we're determined to see through). The last time we talked in January, Nujabes emailed me to wish Jeff Resurreccion, a 19-year old beatboxer who had just passed way from cancer, his heartfelt condolences.

While we continue to respect the privacy of his family, we will work to preserve his legacy, and pay tribute to the body of work, some unreleased, that he has left for us to enjoy. Jun Seba will be dearly missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and fans worldwide.

in peace,
Shing02

Far East Movement - I Party MV feat. IZ & DB Tonik

Far East Movement - Animal

The Far East Movement's music video for I Party featuring IZ & DB Tonik was released last week. Its a pretty cool computer animation video produced and directed by Choz Belen. One funky thing about this video is that right in the middle of it, the guy in the video starts trippin out and sees a vampire girl. Let that be a lesson to you kids. Watch what goes in your drink! LOL.

CNNGO interviews Utamaru from Rhymester

Utamaru from Rhymester
(CNNGO)


Patrick Macias from CNNGO has interviewed Utamaru, one of the OG's of the Japanese hip hop scene from the group Rhymester. This is a really great read about Utamaru's view on the development of hip hop in Japan and how he compares it with American hip hop.

Rhymester has been part of the Japanese hip hop scene since the early 90's and they are one of the more conscious rap groups that have been rapping about political issues and socio-economic issues affecting Japan. They recently released an album called Manifesto in February and a single called ラストヴァース (Last Verse).


Rhymester - Manifesto




via CNNGO

CNNGo: How has Japanese hip-hop changed since Rhymester debuted in the early 1990s?

Utamaru: It's been over ten years since Rhymester collaborated with (U.S. hip-hoppers) the Beatnuts and Buckwild. Back then, a lot of people wanted to emulate American hip hop, so it was a big deal that we got to work with them. But soon afterwards, I started thinking that Japanese hip hop needed to start developing its own style by itself. That feeling became stronger and stronger, and I started moving more in that direction.

CNNGo: After the 1990s, were Japanese kids becoming less interested in Western culture?

Utamaru: That happened too, but it wasn't necessarily the case with hip hop. There are still a lot of people who like American hip hop, myself included. But we needed to stop trying to copy it and compete with it. My generation thought hard about the problem of "How can we, as Japanese people, make rap music?" But the young kids today don't have that kind of issue. Some of them are much more influenced by the Japanese hip hop than American hip hop. Some of the artists in the underground scene, like SEEDA, sell lots of records even though they're not on major labels and don't get much promotion.

CNNGo: Are any of them thinking about targeting the foreign market?

Utamaru: There are some hip hop musicians in Japan have ambitions like that, but they're looking more towards the rest of Asia. To do Japanese hip-hop in America… maybe that's impossible.

CNNGo: Do you think hip-hop made by Japanese people isn't 'real' enough for Americans?

Utamaru: Well, we have to define what's real. Does being real just mean being really poor? If that's what's real, do I need to travel all the way to Rwanda just to rap? (laughs)

Back when I was starting out, I decided to make lyrics that were a reflection of my life and the people who listen to them. After all, that's what hip hop is all about.

Recently, Japan has changed. It's become much poorer than before, and poverty itself is increasing. There are people who live in places with no way to survive and with no hope or expectation for the future. So it's possible to experience a hard life like an American hip-hopper. Of course, there have always been people like that, but society denied their existence. Even poor people would deny that they were actually poor. But now, it's getting harder and harder to ignore. Look at the kind of crime (idol singer) Maki Goto's younger brother committed. He got arrested for stealing electric cables from a construction site to resell them. That's so ghetto! And he himself used to be an idol too!

CNNGo: What's your impression of the current idol scene?

Utamaru: You can't really say "I like idols" out loud in Japan. The only time you could was during the 1980s when idols were popular. But after the 1990s, it became real outsider culture. Now, there's probably more train otaku in Japan than idol otaku. Hardcore male fans are only interested in unpopular idols. They want to feel like, "I'm the only one supporting this girl or this group. Nobody else. Just me." Idol groups like AKB48 and Perfume have gotten so big recently. Their fans are now ordinary schoolgirls. So their original fans have had moved on to try to find even more niche, unpopular idols to follow. So it's impossible for this scene to become mainstream.

CNNGo: What do your fans think when you talk about idols?

Utamaru: Basically, I have two kinds of fans: Those that support me because of my music, and others who know me as someone who talks about pop culture. The two groups don't really mix. Even so, it's not normal in Japan for a musician to follow idols. Everyone thinks I'm weird. One time, I tried DJ-ing some idol music as a pre-show at a Rhymester concert. That was the coldest reception I've ever gotten on stage. I was thinking, "Hey! You guys are supposed to be my fans! Can you at least try a little bit to understand where I'm coming from"?

Matt Brevner - Culture Shock MV

Matt Brevner - Magnum Opus

Matt Brevner has just released a new music video for Culture Shock, a song describing his experiences in Japan, from his debut album Magnum Opus. Nice to see him reppin Vancity in the music video. That gets a big thumbs up from me.

Kensho Kuma performing at the 2007 DMC Finals in Shanghai

Kensho Kuma sent me this recently edited footage of him performing live at the 2007 DMC Finals in Shanghai.

Commercial for XL Middleton's "Middle Class Blues"

Here's a commercial sampler for XL Middleton's Middle Class Blues. You can download the mixtape version here.

Matt Brevner - Top of the Globe (Live Performance)

Matt Brevner


I also met rapper and producer Matt Brevner (formerly known as MC-B and B Dot), at the Vancouver Asian Hip Hop Summit. Brevner is one of Vancouver's rising hip hop stars and is currently getting some spins in rotation on The Beat 94.5 FM, Vancouver's urban radio station. Brevner, who is half-Japanese, quarter Trinidadian and quarter German, was born and raised in New Westminster, British Columbia in the Metro Vancouver area.

After he finished his last song for his set at the Asian Hip Hop Summit, Brevner came and sat down with me. We were chillin and talking about the last song he performed (which was Top of the Globe, but I didn't know what was the song title at the time). Then he told me, "Yeah, chicks like that song." Hahaha, funny guy. Anyways, here's a video of Matt Brevner performing Top of the Globe live at Wild Coyote on June 12, 2009. Brevner also self-produced this song and I'm really diggin the production. Top of the Globe really grasps the feel of Vancouver's urban street culture, which is in dire need of representation. A lot of us urban youth from Vancouver have been waiting for a song like this to help put us on the map!


Matt Brevner's websites:

www.bsharppro.com
www.myspace.com/thetruemcb
www.facebook.com/brevner

Video footage of Kensho Kuma performing in Tokyo, Japan

Here's video footage of Kensho Kuma performing live in Japan with Anom Flux back in July 2009. Most of the video footage is from Kensho's in-store performance inside Wenod Records in Ebisu, Tokyo. The remaining footage is Kensho doing a live concert in Club Game in Shibuya.

When you watch his performance, you can tell right off the bat that Kensho is very passionate about hip hop!!

DS455 - Tha DPG With Tha DSC feat Daz Dillinger (Japanese G-Funk)

From DS455's latest album released in the summer of 2009 celebrating their 20th anniversary called Check Tha Number, here is a collabo track they did with Daz Dillinger from DPG called Tha DPG With Tha DSC.

DS455 a.k.a DSC (Dubstar Clique) a.ka. Baysside Ridaz is a Japanese hip hop group from Yokohama consisting of DJ PMX who produces G-funk beats and Kayzabro, who raps over the beats. They have been active in the Japanese hip hop scene since 1989.

BoA - Bump Bump! feat Verbal MV

BoA - Bump Bump! feat Verbal

BoA hooked up with Verbal again for her latest Japanese single called Bump Bump!. I'm diggin this cut! And the music video is awesome. It has a a real organic feel to it. I thought at first that the music video was going into a Black Eyed Peas kind of direction, but no... its quite Jpop-ish actually. BoA is also sporting a new haircut. A short-haired BoA? I thought I'd never see the day. I like the new look though. Its fresh. And Verbal never ceases to amaze me. He always seems to wear the most outrageous and flamboyant gear and still looks fly. Verbal's fashion-sense is literally out of this world. He really, really reminds me of a Japanese Shock-G (from Digital Underground). Shock-G also wore some really funky gear back in the Digital Underground days.

If the instrumental sounds familiar to you...that's because Bump Bump! samples the very same Soul Power '74 by Maceo & The Macks, as Jennifer Lopez's 2005 smash-hit: Get Right.

Bump Bump! music video:



Soul Power '74 by Maceo & The Macks (the song that Bump Bump! sampled):

Far East Movement - Animal (Cyberpunkers Remix)

(shout out to a-tunes for the link!)

GET YOUR GLOWSTICKS OUT!!! This is the official remix of the Far East Movement's Animal done by Italian elctro music producers Cyberpunkers. This track will be in the Far East Movement's upcoming mixtape called PARTY ANIMAL that will be released on November 5th.

XL Middleton - Middle Class Blues Mixtape Edition

XL Middleton - Middle Class Blues Mixtape Edition

Pasenda's XL Middleton hooked up with DJ Age in a joint release of the mixtape edition Middle Class Blues. The underlying theme of Middle Class Blues is about the daily life and struggles of middle class Americans who are facing the current economic recession. XL Middleton has produced for some real prolific rappers out in the west coast such as Crooked I, Cashis, Young Keno, and Suga Free, so you know this mixtape definitely has some of that REAL west coast G-funk flava!!

Press Release:

XL Middleton is back with his first solo project in two years. Entitled Middle Class Blues, the album plays out like a story that many people have already experienced first hand - the reality of having to deal with a troubled economy. Titles such as "Waitin On A Check" and "Unemployment" exemplify this, but in typical XL fashion, the album ends on a high note, with party records such as "Every Time I Ride By" and the previously-released "Single" bringing the silver lining behind the clouds as XL looks to a more positive future. The album is available for free download, courtesy of DJ Age who brings us Middle Class Blues: The Mixtape Edition. The un-tagged album version will be available from digital outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby within the month, and is available now from XL's freshly-revamped site www.xlmiddleton.com.

DOWNLOAD: XL Middleton - Middle Class Blues Mixtape Edition

Track Listing:

01. XL MIDDLETON Ft. BLACK & MILD & DEUCE MAXWELL- Just Wakin Up
02. XL MIDDLETON- Waitin On A Check
03. XL MIDDLETON SPEAKS 1
04. XL MIDDLETON- Middle Class Blues
05. XL MIDDLETON- SPEAKS 2
06. XL MIDDLETON Ft. CLINTON WAYNE- Unemployment
07. DJ-AGE- Chronic Break
08. XL MIDDLETON- Vossi On The Rocks
09. XL MIDDLETON Ft. NON-CENTS- Drunk Dialin
10. XL MIDDLETON SPEAKS 3
11. XL MIDDLETON Ft. E.D- Filthy
12. XL MIDDLETON Ft. SHAME & REV- Swim Or Sink
13. XL MIDDLETON- We're Fucked Anyway
14. XL MIDDLETON- Ends Of The Earth
15. XL MIDDLETON Ft. CLINTON WAYNE- Single
16. XL MIDDLETON- Now That You Got Thin
17. XL MIDDLETON Ft. MIKE TROY- Every Time I Ride By
18. XL MIDDLETON SPEAKS 4
19. XL MIDDLETON Ft. BLACK & MILD- Closing Credits

m-flo releases "MF-10 Best Album" & new single "SOUND BOY THRILLER" feat. Lisa

m-flo - MF-10 Best Album

This is fresh off the press!! m-flo's 10th anniversary album has just been released today! This album celebrates all the best songs in their 10 years as m-flo. The first disc has all the best songs from the Tripod Era (1999-2002) when Lisa was part of m-flo. There's also a brand new track with Lisa the first disc called SOUND BOY THRILLER. The second disc has all the best songs from the m-flo Loves Era (2003-2008) when m-flo featured some of the most popular Japanese singers in their music. There is also a "Biographical Mix DVD" of all the m-flo music videos mixed by ENLIGHTENMENT.

Here is the music video for SOUND BOY THRILLER feeeeeeeeeeat. LISA (Boy, that's quite a crazy hat that the little guy is wearing):



Track Listing:

Disc 1:
1. SOUND BOY THRILLER feeeeeeeeeeat. LISA
2. Mirrorball Satellite 2012
3. flo jack
4. How You Like Me Now?
5. been so long
6. The Way We Were
7. Yours only
8. Hands
9. One Sugar Dream
10. prism
11. orbit-3
12. Come Back To Me
13. L.O.T.(Love Or Truth)
14. come again

Disc 2:
1. Lotta Love / loves MINMI
2. miss you / loves melody. & Ryohei
3. Luvotomy / loves 安室奈美恵
4. the Love Bug / loves BoA
5. Love Song / loves BONNIE PINK
6. DOPEMAN? / loves Emyli & Diggy-MO'
7. STARSTRUCK “The Return of the LuvBytes” / loves AI & 日之内絵美 & Rum (Heartsdales)
8. Summer Time Love / loves 日之内エミ & Ryohei
9. ONE DAY / loves 加藤ミリヤ
10. let go / loves YOSHIKA
11. A.D.D.P. / loves MONDAY満ちる
12. HEY! / loves Akiko Wada
13. Cosmic Night Run / loves 野宮真貴 & CRAZY KEN BAND
14. REEEWIND! / loves Crystal Kay

Biographical music DVD:
1. The Way We Were ／ m-flo
2. The Rhyme Brokers ／ m-flo
3. been so long ／ m-flo
4. flo jack ／ m-flo
5. Mirrorball Satellite 2012 ／ m-flo
6. L.O.T.（Love Or Truth） ／ m-flo
7. chronopsychology ／ m-flo
8. Hands ／ m-flo
9. Come Back To Me ／ m-flo
10. Quantum Leap ／ m-flo
11. prism ／ m-flo
12. come again ／ m-flo
13. How You Like Me Now? ／ m-flo
14. Dispatch ／ m-flo feat.Dev Large,Nipps & Vincent Galluo
15. orbit-3 ／ m-flo
16. REEEWIND!/I LIKE IT ／ m-flo loves Crystal Kay
17. gET oN! ／ m-flo loves Crystal Kay
18. the Love Bug ／ m-flo loves BoA
19. WAY U MOVE ／ m-flo loves Dragon Ash
20. TRIPOD BABY ／ m-flo loves LISA
21. DOPEMAN? ／ m-flo loves EMYLI & Diggy-MO'
22. Loop In My Heart ／ m-flo loves EMYLI & YOSHIKA
23. Summer Time Love ／ m-flo loves 日之内絵美 & Ryohei
24. Love Song ／ m-flo loves BONNIE PINK
25. let go ／ m-flo loves YOSHIKA
26. Luvotomy ／ m-flo loves 安室奈美恵
27. Lotta Love ／ m-flo loves MINMI
28. miss you ／ m-flo loves melody. & 山本領平

m-flo released their "Tribute -maison de m-flo-" album

m-flo - Tribute -maison de m-flo-


m-flo's Tribute -maison de m-flo- album is out! This album features Japanese singers performing covers of m-flo's hit songs. I haven't listened to the album yet, but as you guys know I'm not too fond of TVXQ's cover of Been So Long. I just hope that the other songs aren't as butchered. If you have listened to the entire Tribute -maison de m-flo- album, kindly post your thoughts about it in the comment section.

Track Listing:

01 miss you / May J. & JONTE
02 come again / 青山テルマ
03 Planet Shining / COMA-CHI
04 Yours only, feat.WISE / 西野カナ
05 been so long / JEJUNG & YUCHUN (from 東方神起)
06 Simple & Lovely / misono
07 the Love Bug / YU-A
08 Come Back To Me / Marie
09 L..O.T. (Love or Truth) / BENI
10 let go / 清水翔太

NYCCA - Brave feat. Jesse from RIZE

NYCCA - Cookie

Here's a new track from NYCCA featuring Jesse from Rize called Brave. This song will be in NYCCA's upcoming album called Cookie that be released on November 11, 2009.

NYCCA (日華) is a trilingual rapper. The name "NYCCA" is a Romanization of how his name is pronounced in Japanese. NYCCA raps in Cantonese, Japanese and in English. NYCCA was born in Hong Kong and when he was ten years old he moved to Japan. He also attended college in New York. While NYCCA was in high school he was introduced to hip hop music and then decided to pursue a career in hip hop music.

DJ Honda's IV Album is out!

DJ Honda - IV

DJ Honda's IV (or is it hIV....??) is out! This album features some of the most respected hip hop artists in the game right now such as Mos Def, Kool G Rap, EPMD, Problemz, Rass Kass, and Lord Tariq rapping over DJ Honda's beats.

DJ Honda has leaked out two tracks off his album: Magnetic Arts with Mos Def and D.R.E.A.M (Drugs Rule Everything Around Me...its a grimey song) with Sean Price.

DOWNLOAD MP3: DJ Honda - Magnetic Arts feat. Mos Def | DJ Honda - D.R.E.A.M feat. Sean Price

Here's some studio movies that DJ Honda released:





You can preview the rest of DJ Honda's IV album in the djhondaIV Youtube Channel.

Track listing:

01 Let It Out feat. Rakaa Iriscience (Dilated Peoples) & Money Harm aka Marvin Moore
02 Magnetic Arts feat. Mos Def
03 KGR & honda feat. Kool G Rap
04 Never Defeat Em feat. EPMD
05 Group Home Gangsta feat. Group Home
06 The Incredible feat. Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)
07 D.R.E.A.M. feat. Sean Price (Heltah Skeltah)
08 Spinning feat. Buttah (The Rawcotiks)
09 That Knock feat. Problemz
10 Throw Your Hands Up feat. Ras Kass
11 City Of Miami feat. Garcia
12 Worldwide feat. P.M.
13 Another Day feat. The Kid Daytona & Juganot
14 30 Some Odd feat. Lord Tariq
15 Underdog By Nature feat. Rsonist (The Heatmakerz) & John Brackett

XL Middleton - Vossi On The Rocks

XL Middleton - Middle Class Blues

XL Middleton has leaked another track called Vossi On The Rocks from his upcoming album Middle Class Blues. I'm definitely feelin this track. This is a smooth joint that really, really mellows you out.

Press release:

XL Middleton is back with another leak from his upcoming album Middle Class Blues. Sticking more to the theme of the album with this song, Vossi On The Rocks is all about dealing with the stress of living check-to-check with a little assistance from XL's favorite cognac. Speaking on the track, Middleton says, "It's unlike anything you're hearing in hip hop these days. Everyone else is in the club. You don't hear a lot of live chords and basslines anymore. People are gonna feel this music, they're gonna be able to zone out to the instrumental and relate to the lyrics at the same time." Backed by a rich, slow-rolling chord heavy arrangement, XL advises you to "get ya rent money, take it the store, no second thoughts" in order to get away from the harsh realities of today's economic situations.

Middle Class Blues is coming in two forms - the free-for-download mixtape version mixed by DJ Age, and the album version which will be available from digital retailers such as iTunes and Amazon, as well as in CD form. XL also recently released a digital compilation, Drunk Talk Vol. 1, with labelmate Black which is available now.

DOWNLOAD MP3: XL Middleton - Vossi On The Rocks

Kensho Kuma - God Will

Kensho Kuma - God Will

Kensho Kuma has just released his new online single called God Will.

DOWNLOAD MP3: Kensho Kuma - God Will

Shing02 - 湾曲 (Waikyoku) feat. Emi Meyer & Motoki Yamaguchi

Shing02 - 湾曲 (Waikyoku)

Shing02 is a Japanese rapper that was born in Tokyo, Japan and was raised in Tanzania, England and Japan. When he was 15 years old, he landed in California and eventually got involved with hip hop music. In 1996 Shing02's music was promoted back in Japan and as a result he won many fans through his unique hip hop sound. Shing02 is also the inventor of the Vestex Faderboard, which is a keyboard-like instrument that uses faders.

Shing02 has released his highly anticipated album last year called 湾曲 (Waikyoku) which means "distortion" or "bend" in English.  The overall concept of 湾曲 (Waikyoku) is deals with the themes of being a human being and "overcoming the trials and tribulations of the spiritual side" (from Shing02's interview with ElectricSistaHood on 10/30/2008).  Here is the music video of the title track featuring Jazz singer Emi Meyer and drummer Motoki Yamaguchi.

AK-69 Releases new album "The Cartel From Streets"

AK-69 - The Cartel From Streets

Japanese hip hop artist AK-69 (a.k.a. Kalassy Nikoff) has an album out now called The Cartel From Streets which was released on September 2nd. The Cartel From Streets debuted at #8 on the Oricon charts. One thing you guys should know about AK-69 that he is not signed to any major label. That's right, AK-69 is an independent artist that had an independently released hip hop album debut in the top ten on the Oricon charts. That is quite an amazing feat for an independent hip hop artist because in Japan the Oricon charts are heavily dominated by artists from major labels such as Sony and Avrex.

AK-69 already has two music videos out from his The Cartel From Streets album. One of them is for Only God Can Judge Me and another is for And I Love You So. Me personally, I'm really diggin' the song Only God Can Judge Me. I like AK-69's energy and delivery in the song and I totally dig the synthesized MIDI trumpet sounds. The MIDI trumpet sounds gives me a sense of nostalgia because it really reminds me of the BGM from the old skool SNES Beat 'em up games or the SNES sidescrollers I used to play.

Only God Can Judge Me:



And I Love You So:



Track Listing:

01. The Cartel From Streets
02. Only God Can Judge Me
03. FXXk Off
04. HIP HOP 4 Life feat. HOKT, Kayzabro, BIG RON
05. Around My Hood
06. WAYA
07. A to Z feat. ZANG HAOZI
08. They Don’t Know
09. 雨音 feat. LA BONO
10. CROWZ feat. Phobia Of Thug (Mr.OZ / Ganxta Cue), Lil’J
11. C・H・A・B・A・N
12. ダッチ
13. Skit ～追憶の夜～
14. And I Love You So
15. Sun Rise
16. Lookin’ In My Eyez
17. The Last Song ～My Love Epilogue～ feat. ARIA
18. 69 Party feat. DJ MOTO a.k.a. DON GRANDE