During their career, they have released two indie albums, ten major albums, one live album, one indies collection, and three best-of albums. They released six singles as an indie act, and 17 with a major label.
On October 31, 2018, the group announced that they were suspending all activities.[1] This announcement came six months after a tabloid alleged that Su was cheating on his wife and the group started conducting activities without him.[2] Rip Slyme’s website has since shut down. Pes left the group as well in November 2017, but this was unknown to the general public until October 2021.
On April 15, 2022, Rip Slyme, now the trio of Ryo-Z, Ilmari & Fumiya, returned with the first of what was said to be five monthly singles, "Human Nature".[3] This was followed by the next single, "Gentleman" on May 14, and the third, "After the rain" on June 17.
Members
Ryo-Z: Ryouji Narita (成田亮治 Narita Ryouji), born July 15, 1974
Ilmari: Keisuke Ogihara (荻原恵介 Ogihara Keisuke), b. June 17, 1975
DJ Fumiya: Fumiya Takeuchi (竹内文也 Takeuchi Fumiya), b. March 14, 1979
Biography
The group was formed in 1994 by Ryo-Z and Ilmari, who were later joined by Pes (he attended the same school as Ilmari). The Rip in Rip Slyme stands for their initials. Slyme was a popular children's toy at that time. Their name is also a pun on the phrase "lips' rhyme". Winning an amateur rapping contest "Young MCs In Town", they started their musical career with their first album Lips Rhyme in 1995. Later they added DJ Fumiya (who had studied under East End X Yuri's DJ Yoggy) and Su (previously a backup dancer for East End X Yuri). In 1998 they released their second album, "Talkin' Cheap" and also took part in Dragon Ash's Total Communication event.
In general, Fumiya composes most of the music, while Ryo-Z, Pes, Ilmari, and Su write their own lyrics. However, before Fumiya became a member, Pes composed most of the songs. Each member has tried their hand at composing music for Rip Slyme, and Pes occasionally played guitar on some tracks (Such as Home and More & More, for example). Allegedly, Pes was in a rock band before being introduced to hip hop music by Ilmari and Ryo-Z.
The same year they released a big-budget album "Tokyo Classic", which became Japan's first million-selling hip-hop album, with a sound compared to James Brown's soul and funk. Two singles from the album, "Funkastic" and "Rakuen Baby" collected MTV awards in 2003. "Super Shooter", featured as a B-side to their single "Galaxy", is the theme song for the animeGantz.
From late 2005 (after the release of Good Job! in August) through 2006, DJ Fumiya was on extended break, citing illness. For performances, a friend of the band, DJ Soma, was a stand-in. Fumiya's break led to several interesting side projects and collaborations from other members. Fumiya returned to activity for concerts in late summer 2006, and for the Rip Slyme release, Epoch.[4]
On 7 July 2007, Rip Slyme performed their single "Nettaiya" at Live Earth in Kyoto, Japan. Later that year, they would go on to release their fifteenth major single, "Speed King", and their seventh Warner album, Funfair, shortly after.
In summer 2008, they released "Taiyou to Bikini". Later that year, three digital singles would debut, all of which would be on the February 2009 single "Stairs". Rip Slyme released their eighth album, Journey, on June 10, 2009.
Rip Slyme has provided voiceover work as well as the ending theme for an episode of the Japanese dub of SpongeBob SquarePants.[5] The episode aired on May 6, 2009.
In 2010, Rip Slyme was one of the artists launched on Warner Music's new sublabel, unBORDE.[6]
In October 2021, during the group's hiatus, Pes announced that he had quietly parted ways with Rip Slyme in November 2017 and stated that "a reunion would be difficult" due to the tensions he had with the other members.[7]
As of December 2023, the group still performed live, now with two stand ins for the retired members: Wise, with whom Ryo-Z and Ilmari already collaborated in Teriyaki Boyz, performing for Su, as well as Emi Okamoto from Friends replacing Pes.
Side projects
Ilmari formed a short lived group with Kj and BOTS of Dragon Ash, and Shigeo of Skebo King called Steady & Co. The group released their debut album Chambers in 2001. Ilmari and Ryo-Z along with Wise, Verbal of M-Flo, and Nigo the founder of A Bathing Ape formed a super group known as Teriyaki Boyz. The Teriyaki Boyz released two albums: Beef or Chicken (2005) and Serious Japanese (2009). In 2012 Ilmari formed a Hip-Hop/Rock band named The Beatmoss with Kosen, Yas, and Sohnosuke.[8] The group released two albums: The Beatmoss Vol. 1 (2012) and The Beatmoss Vol. 2 (2013).[8] Pes released his first solo album, Suteki na Koto in 2012.[9][10]
Dragon Ash is a Japanese rap rock group founded in 1996 by Kenji "KJ" Furuya and Makoto Sakurai. They were one of the first groups to popularize hip hop in Japan. Dragon Ash is a member of Mob Squad, which is an affiliation with the bands Source and Endive. Dragon Ash uses the French fleur-de-lis as their band logo/symbol.
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.
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Halcali, were a Japanese J-pop duo consisting of Halca and Yucali from Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. Its name is a portmanteau of Halca and Yucali. Their debut album, Halcali Bacon, reached #5 on the Oricon charts, making it the first album by a female hip-hop artist to enter the top ten in Japanese history.
Teriyaki Boyz are a Japanese hip hop group from Yokohama, Japan.
Keisuke Ilmari Ogihara is a Japanese hip hop recording artist and one of the founding members of the hip hop group Rip Slyme. He was born on June 17, 1975, in Helsinki, Finland to a Finnish mother and a Japanese father. He is best known by his stage name Ilmari (イルマリ), which is considered to be his middle name in Finland.
Ya-kyim is a Japanese R&B and hip hop group. The group consists of one MC, Miku, and two singers, Alisa and Yurie. Ya-kyim disbanded on 31 December 2012.
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Seiji Kameyama, better known by his stage name Wise, is a Japanese-American rapper who raps in both English and Japanese. His mother is American and his father is Japanese and during high school, he lived in the United States. He is affiliated with the creative group Kazenohito. In 2005, he formed the group Wise'N'SonPub with beatmaker SonPub and the group Teriyaki Boyz with Ryo-Z, Ilmari and Verbal. He made his major debut as a solo artist with the single "Shine Like A Star" on February 21, 2007.
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Nigö is a Japanese fashion designer, disc jockey (DJ), record producer and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape (Bape), and currently serves as co-founder creative director for Kenzo. Additionally he is a member of the Japanese group Teriyaki Boyz, serving as their official in-house DJ since the group's 2005 debut.
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The MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2006 were hosted by Mokomichi Hayami and Masami Hisamoto at Tokyo. The 5th annual show premiered live on MTV, Saturday May 27 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium. The awards show was filmed before a live audience of 8000. The event featured live performances from the far east and the west, including Japanese acts AI, Def Tech, Kumi Koda and Remioromen, along with international acts Hoobastank, John Legend, Kelly Rowland, Rihanna and Se7en from South Korea. The event also featured a special performance by Japanese R&B superstar Ken Hirai joining forces with John Legend. The award ceremony was also marked by appearance of the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson.
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