De La Soul is an American hip hop group formed in 1988 in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer, David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, and Vincent "Maseo" Mason formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'".
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
Five Deez is an American hip hop group from Cincinnati, Ohio and a part of the Wanna Battle collective, which also includes DJ Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli, Rubix, and Lone Catalysts. The group consists of members: Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician, Pase Rock, Kyle David, and Sonic. Fat Jon currently resides in Frankfurt, Germany; while Pase Rock lives in New York, with Kyle and Sonic remaining in Cincinnati.
Jun Seba, better known by his stage name Nujabes, was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, DJ, composer and arranger best known for his atmospheric instrumental mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as incorporating elements of trip hop, breakbeat, downtempo, and ambient music.
Metaphorical Music is Nujabes' first solo album released in 2003. It offers a combination of hip hop and instrumental jazz, and features artists like Shing02, Substantial, Five Deez and Cise Starr. Despite the fact that the album has contributing vocals from several artists, it is roughly classified as a breakbeat album.
Hydeout Productions 1st Collection is a compilation album, the first of two released by Nujabes' Hydeout Productions label. It showcases Nujabes' style of combining the music genres of hip hop and jazz, and features artists Funky DL, Apani B, Substantial, Shing02, L-Universe, Pase Rock, Five Deez, and Cise Starr.
Cyne, often stylized as CYNE, is an American alternative hip hop group originating from Gainesville, Florida. The group consists of MCs Akin Yai and Clyde "Cise Starr" Graham, and producers David "Enoch" Newell and Michael "Speck" Gersten, and are currently signed to Hometapes.
Modal Soul Classics is a compilation album from Japanese hip hop producer Nujabes. Though the music on this album is commonly attributed to Nujabes, none of it is composed by him; the songs on this album were only compiled and mastered by him. All of it is by other artists who have inspired Nujabes.
Shingo Annen, better known by his stage name Shing02, is a Japanese hip hop recording artist, record producer, activist and investor. He was described by Patrick Neate as one of the Japanese emcees who "has addressed important issues from Japanese ethnicity to sexual exploitation to the education system."
Alternative hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip hop groups that refuse to conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres drawing equally from funk and pop/rock, as well as jazz, soul, reggae, and even folk."
Modal Soul Classics II is a tribute compilation album dedicated to the Japanese music producer Nujabes. It is produced by various artists including Uyama Hiroto, Five Deez, Pase Rock, Calm, Zack Austin, Specifics, and clammbon. It's the first album released by Hydeout Productions since Nujabes' death. It's a tribute album mainly from artists who worked with Nujabes on the previous albums. The album contains for the most part cover versions and remixes of Nujabes songs. The photograph on the cover is from Japanese photographer Ota Yoshiharu.
"Lady Brown" is a single release, by Japanese hip-hop producer Nujabes. The single was released in 12" vinyl and sold in Nujabes' own record stores 'Tribe' located in Tokyo. The single featured Cise Starr from Cyne and Nao Tokui. Lady Brown was featured on Nujabes' first solo album Metaphorical Music.
Spiritual State is the third and final studio album by Nujabes, released posthumously as a follow-up to Modal Soul in 2005. The album was incomplete upon Nujabes' death in February 2010, inspiring those close to him to see it finished. Spiritual State was released in Japan on December 3, 2011 and February 2012 in the United States.
[Ricky Lascaze] is an American Hip-Hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn, New York who records under the name DJ Ezasscul. For a brief period of time he was a member of the rap group Supreme & Eaze with, Missouri rapper, Supreme Sol. DJ Ezasscul is also founder of the independent label Jazzy Peace Records.
Stanley Robinson, known as Substantial, is a hip hop recording artist from Prince George's County, Maryland. He now operates out of Virginia.
Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection is a compilation album published by Japanese label Hydeout Productions in 2007. Mainly a Nujabes album, it features numerous other hip hop and downtempo artists including Pase Rock, Uyama Hiroto, and Shing02. It was Nujabes' last album before his death in 2010. The album cover image is a painting by Texas artist, Cheryl D. McClure.
Force of Nature is a hip-hop DJ and production duo from Tokyo, Japan. The group is composed of members Kitazawa Ikuzumi, known by his stage name KZA, and Kento Sasaki, known by his stage name DJ Kent or The Backwoods. Known internationally for their DJ work as well as their production, the duo is also credited as part of the production team that scored the music for the anime series Samurai Champloo.
Lofi hip hop is a form of downtempo music that combines elements of hip hop and chill-out music. It was popularized in the 2010s on YouTube.
Luv(Sic) Hexalogy is an album collaboration created and finalized posthumously by the Japanese producer Nujabes, who died before the completion of the album, and Japanese American hip hop artist Shing02. It is a jazz hip hop album (hexalogy), that incorporates latin jazz/soul samples and drum beats to create the instrumentals. The scratching was performed by various DJs and the vocals/lyrics were created by Shing02.
The music of the 2004 anime series Samurai Champloo, created by the studio Manglobe, was produced by a team of four composers drawn from the hip hop musical scene. They were Shinji "Tsutchie" Tsuchida of Shakkazombie, Fat Jon, Nujabes and Force of Nature. The musical direction was chosen by series creator and director Shinichirō Watanabe as part of his planned blending of hip hop culture with the anime's setting in the Edo period, additionally incorporating contributions from guest artists. The opening theme "Battlecry" was performed and co-written by Shing02, while the various ending themes were performed by Minmi, Kazami, and Azuma Riki. The final episode's ending theme was "San Francisco", licensed from the rapper band Midicronica.
