Kohei Japan is a Japanese hip hop emcee and a member of the Japanese rap group, Mellow Yellow. Born in Yokohama, Japan, he discovered rap and hip hop while working as a chef. [1]
Many of his songs illustrate the contrasts between his Japanese culture and Western hip hop influences. In his song "Hungry Strut", [2] he proclaims that he eats "rice, not bread, and fish, not meat", thereby asserting that while he is a member of the hip hop culture, he remains Japanese. He shows his attachment to Japanese culture by wearing a traditional kimono in many of his appearances. On his album "The adventures of Kohei Japan", he appears on the cover as a kabuki character in a woodblock print. [3] On the album cover, his hands make the universal "funk" sign, showing the contrast between traditional Japan and hip hop culture.
French hip hop or commonly French rap, is the hip hop music style developed in French-speaking countries. France is the second largest hip-hop market in the world after the United States.
German hip hop refers to hip hop music produced in Germany. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early 1980s.
In music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections can be repeated to create ostinato patterns. Longer sections can also be repeated: for example, a player might loop what they play on an entire verse of a song in order to then play along with it, accompanying themselves.
Japanese hip hop is hip hop music from Japan. It is said to have begun when Hiroshi Fujiwara returned to Japan and started playing hip hop records in the early 1980s. Japanese hip hop tends to be most directly influenced by old school hip hop, taking from the era's catchy beats, dance culture and overall fun and carefree nature and incorporating it into their music. As a result, hip hop stands as one of the most commercially viable mainstream music genres in Japan and the line between it and pop music is frequently blurred.
King Giddra was a Japanese hip hop group that started in 1993. They were signed to the indie label P-Vine Records. After a six-year hiatus, they would go on to sign with DefStar Records, a sublabel under Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) for their second album release.
Hideyuki Yokoi, known professionally as Zeebra, is a Japanese hip hop rapper and DJ who made his first appearance in 1995. Zeebra is a former member of the hip-hop group King Giddra, which also included DJ Oasis and K Dub Shine. He went on to pursue a solo career shortly after in 1997, and signed with the Future Shock record label.
Dabo is a Japanese hip-hop rapper. He first appeared on the Japanese hip-hop scene in the 1990s, collaborating in a Shakkazombie song, "Tomo ni ikkou". Since 2002, he has released three albums: Hitman (2002), Diamond (2003), and The Force (2006). Dabo's lyrics are more hard-edged than most J-pop, or Japanese pop, and represent a tough Japanese street culture. He also appears as a playable character in the Japanese version of Def Jam Vendetta.
Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes referred to Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop.
Hideaki Ishi, better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a Japanese record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature, and extensive use of jazz and soul samples.
Technodelic is the fifth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1981. The album is notable for its experimental approach and heavy use of digital samplers which were not commonly used until the mid-to-late 1980s, resulting in a more minimalist and avant-garde sound compared to their previous work.
Tha Blue Herb is a Japanese alternative hip hop trio based in Sapporo, Hokkaido. They formed in 1997 and now consist of three members: Boss the MC a.k.a. Ill-Bosstino (MC), O.N.O. and DJ Dye. They also run a record label called Tha Blue Herb Recordings.
Asian hip hop is a heterogeneous musical genre that covers all hip hop music as recorded and produced by artists of Asian origin.
Kōta Kagami, known professionally as K Dub Shine, is a Japanese rapper.
Hime born 1979 is a Japanese hip hop artist who released her debut solo album Hime hajime in October 2003 and is part of DJ Honda's studio. Her works are notable for their use of Japanese cultural themes, including tanka metre and sampling of kabuki and bunraku narrations. Her works also often touch on themes of female empowerment; she describes herself as the voice of the "Japanese doll". One example of the incorporation of traditional Japanese poetry and contemporary hip hop can be heard in the song Tateba shakuyaku or Standing, she's a peony
"this sound,
giri and ninjo
the spirit of harmony
will the surprise attack
come from the peony"
Yuri Ichii is a Japanese pop idol and rapper, best known for being a member in the breakthrough Japanese hip hop trio, East End X Yuri. She was also a singer with the revolving-door group Tokyo Performance Doll (TPD) alongside Ryoko Shinohara. She was part of TPD for a while but sought to do something different, deciding to try rap. Ichii began practicing her rapping in preparation for a solo show with her friend Gaku, who was a part of the group East End. In February 1994 when Gaku performed with Yuri for part of her show, she was seen by File Records. They were impressed with her and decided to sign them together for a mini-album. Ichii is a pioneer for women in Japanese hip hop.
B-Boy Park was a Japanese hip hop festival that took place every year in Tokyo. It was free admission and open to the public. A prominent player on the Japanese hip hop scene, Crazy-A, organized the annual hip hop festival in Yoyogi Park in 1999. It was a celebration of hip hop music, dance, fashion and culture.
Uzi is a popular Japanese hip-hop artist. He has released four major albums, most recently his “Natural 9” album released in March 2008. Uzi is one of the rappers to incorporate more overt elements of Japanese culture into his music and videos, specifically aspects referring to the samurai. He is a great example of an artist who maintains the localization of hip-hop music through his dependence on the incorporation of Japanese themes into his work. Such non-Americanization of his hip-hop music has been met with varying opinions; some view this as disrespectful of the origins of hip-hop culture, while there are those who appreciate Uzi’s apparent embracing of Japanese culture.
Ian Condry is a cultural anthropologist and author. He graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a B.A. in Government and received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1999. He is currently a Professor of Japanese Cultural Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sugar Soul was a Japanese three-member R&B group which formed in 1996. They soon made their debut in January 1997 on the Flava Records label. The members featured DJ Hasebe (programming), Aiko Machida (vocals) and Kawabe (composer). The band achieved success with the single "Garden" in 1999, which featured Kenji Furuya of Dragon Ash. The band was seen as one of the prominent new R&B-style musicians in Japan in the late 1990s.
Bangladeshi hip hop is a genre of music and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music developed in Bangladesh. It is heavily influenced by American hip hop, and started in the early 1990s. In recent years, artists have used lyrical expressions for cultural identity, with lyrics addressing Bangladesh's political and social problems, lifestyles, nature, cultures, and communities. Hip hop in today's era has earn great impact in Bangladesh.