Guide to Japanese Hiphop
So you want to dive into some Japanese hiphop for whatever reason (expand your musical taste, learn how Japanese is used, or just because it sounds good) but you aren't quite sure where to start or who to listen to to get the best exposure. Set your mind to 全開, put your arms up and spread your legs because shits about to get real.
The best way that I know to introduce people to Japanese music is via a torrent of information of artists. What better way to get exposed to multiple artists than to check out these two cool mother fuckers over here (thats on your right). Who are these well dressed good lookin' dicks? That's the one and only m-flo. Cool name, but who are they. Are you serious right now? Peel back your eye balls and get learned. m-flo [エムフロウ] is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of emcee Verbal (left) and ☆Taku Takahashi (right). Why do I care? Okay, seriously, drop the attitude or we're done here. Yeah, whatever. You should care because they have THE biggest influence on Japanese Hip Hop and it's artists (I believe, so I guess it's true). m-flo is going to be our guide on this magical journey through Japanese Hip Hop. In the words of the famous Captain Tenneal, 'LETS GO!'
This next part is going to go rather quickly because I won't be chatting about every little thing, I will post a song and then give a small detail about it and its' artist.
So let's bring m-flo back into this. We will be focusing on their LOVES series a.k.a m-flo♥. This is a series of songs/albums that are in collaboration with the top artists of Japan in the genre of hip hop/J-urban. Now before I continue I will like to stress that if you like these songs/albums, please buy them or buy something from the artist to support them in some way!
I wont be making a track list, so don't use this as a track list. All I'm doing is displaying the most popular songs of each album and then stemming off of that. What do I mean by stemming? As I said before m-flo is in the thick of this genre, so when I post a song featuring an artist, I will also post good songs from that artist. I won't stem every song, just ones that are influential. format is: SONG - ARTIST : ARTIST INFO
Release in August of 2005 and the first album of the LOVES series is Atromantic.
Starstruck～"The Return Of The Luvbytes" AI & 日之内絵美 & Rum (Heartsdales) : Heartsdales is a hip hop duo group consisting of Rum and Jewels (sisters) produced by Verbal. Sugar Shine and Super Star are probably their best albums. They feature a lot of top artists as well. Highly recommended for a fast upbeat time.
Get ON! : This is the only song that TAKU actually raps in. It's pretty entertaining.
Astrosexy - Chemistry : Chemistry is a duo group consisting of Kaname and Yoshikuni. I've listened to a few of their songs, pretty good.
The Love Bug - BoA : BoA is probably the most well known Asian artist and being extremely attractive doesn't hurt. Her styles range from Korean to Japanese to English. You really can't lose with BoA. Here are a few songs/albums I enjoy.
BUMP BUMP! feat. Verbal & IZM feat. Verbal (same album)
BoA DELUXE - this is a remix/enhanced version of her American debut album; BoA aka, BoA: The First Album aka BoA: Deluxe. Some of you may know her from her InuYasha ending theme, Every Heart
There are other great songs on this album, but I don't feel they fit this 'theme' we are working with. Check it out though, don't let these few songs stop you!
Release in August 2005 m-flo took us upon the Global Astroliner and gave us some in-flight entertainment with BEAT SPACE NINE. If you enjoyed this album they later released a remix entitled: DOPE SPACE NINE
Taste Your Stuff (Happy Drive) - BENNIE K : BENNIE K is an excellent duo, Yuki and Cico really know how to knock it out. To get a feel of them check out their Best of the Bestest album. There isn't one song that I don't like listening to constantly. If you enjoyed that check out the mini albums, 第１集ミニアルバム – 「ザ・ベニーケー・ショウ」 & 第２集ミニアルバム – 「ザ・ベニーケー・ショウ ～on the floor編～」 featuring artists like, Diggy Mo', Def Tech, Blaise Plant, HAMMER, a.mia and many more. A little side project of BENNIE K is BENNIE BECCA. Becca is an American singer soon to be rising in Japan. BENNIE BECCA 2010 is her debut studio album, (2012, 2013, 明日 and The Beginning are a few great songs).
SO EXCLUSIVE - Sowelu : Sowelu is probably best known for her ending theme I Will in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, but this has to be one of my favorite songs.
A.D.D.P (Analyze Dissect Detect Process) - MONDAY : This is just a crazy ass song with a crazy ass beat. MONDAY does a wonderful job.
There are plenty of other great songs on this album from artists like, Akiko Wada, Rie Fu (Bleach ending theme), Yoshika, Diggy Mo' and many more, please check it out!
Released in March of 2007 third and final album in the LOVES series is COSMICOLOR. This one will take us a while.
Luvotomy - Namie Amuro : Namie Amuro (安室 奈美恵) is a goddess.... ... .. . Sorry, I got side tracked thinking about her. If you want to see how adorable this woman can be then check out the video to WoWa and then check out the live version of that song from her BEST FICTION TOUR (it has cute dance moves). Speaking of BEST FICTION, that is a great album of hers! Featuring some of my favorite songs, DO ME MORE, WHAT A FEELING and Sexy Girl. You may of first heard of her from her ending theme COME for the anime Inuyasha (in my TOP5 song of all time). She is the epitome of Japanese female artists.
Picture Perfect Love - Monkey Majik : MONKEY MAJIK is a band consisting of two Canadian brothers (Maynard and Blaise Plant) and two Japanese members (Tax and Dick). There really is too much to say about this group. Like m-flo, MONKEY MAJIK sings primarily in English mixed with Japanese. You can catch the remix of this song in their collaboration album, MONKEY MAJIK + M-FLO - PICTURE PERFECT. A few of my favorite albums include, TIME, Sora wa Marude (空はまるで), 虹色の魚｜Ｏｐｅｎ Ｈａｐｐｉｎｅｓｓ｜ＭＯＮＳＴＥＲ, SAKURA and if you want all these in one cute little package they've recently released MONKEY MAJIK BEST ～10years & Forever～. And if for some reason you've been living under a rock or in America you've not heard this magical song; Monkey Majik + Yoshida Brothers - CHANGE.
Love Me After 12AM - ALEX(CLAZZIQUAI PROJECT) - CLAZZIQUAI PROJECT is a South Korean mixed genre experimental electronic/acid jazz/ house/ band by DJ CLAZZI. The group consists of DJ CLAZZI, Horan, ALEX and sometime Alex's' sister, Christina (Alex and Christina are Canadian/Korean). I literally have TOO much to say about Clazziquai because they are my 2nd favorite group of all time. I would almost have to write a second article about them and then go off into Korean/pop/rock/hiphop. I'mma just list the albums and you go do yo' thang and check 'em.
Instant Pig (2004) - Great album. You Never Know, After Love, I Will Never Cry and Gentle Rain are just a few of the great songs. You Never Know is my fav.
Robotica (2007) - This is a little different than the other albums, different genre/mix, more electronic than acid jazz. Love Mode feat. VERBAL (m-flo) is a great one on this.
Love Child Of The Century (2007) - The best song on this album is by far, Romeo N Juliet (Vocal 알렉스, 호란, Feat MC Meta), ('우리결혼했어요' 알렉스와 신애 듀엣곡)
MUCHO PUNK (2009) MUCHO MIX (2009) MUCHO MUSICA (2009) -- Let me break those three down because they appear to be the same. MUCHO PUNK is the 2009 release of the album, MUCHO MUSICA is the English version of the album and MUCHO MIX(japan) is the remixed version of the album. Later in the same year they released Mucho Beat [4.5집], not entirely a full album thus the .5. Mucho Beat is a remix of MUCHO PUNK, but with 3 addition awesome songs (핑, lalala and 집착). As I said before. There is REALLY too much to say about this awesome group. If you want to start listening to Korean music, I HIGHLY suggest you start here. Branching off of CLAZZIQUAI, ALEX has an album you should check out. My Vintage Romance (2008) - This is a very soothing, relaxing album. The song I REALLY enjoy from this album is 화분 (Flowerpot). If you check out the lyrics and find out where the song came from and who it's too, you'll cry.
Those are just 3 songs of a REALLY great album. If you really have the time you can check out their list of almost 30 albums over their 10 year career. Head on over to http://m-flo.com for a complete track list/discography
One more "artist" and we'll be done for today. This next one will give you the LARGEST mix of genres and artists you could ever want. I'm talking about THE ONE, THE ONLY, DJ KAORI!!!!!!!!! What you want to check out are her JMIX sets, ( JMIX I, II, III & IV ) I'll post JMIX III & JMIX IV track set so you can see what I'm talking about.
JMIX III (on the left) JMIX IV (on the right)
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Check out the rest of her mixs at her site> http://www.universal-music.co.jp/um3/djkaori/
Please leave a comment with any artists / songs you suggest or think should have been in this list.
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M-Flo is indeed one of the best. Their influence is definitely felt. Nice article
– how do you feel about slightly less commercial (independent) hiphop coming out of Japan?? Like 般若 (hannya) ?? His 6th album drops in 3 weeks… he’s in that group of artists that move about 10,000 units on their albums
Now for some shameless selfpromotion
http://snd.sc/lpKVIA – snippet of 境界線 (borderline/kyokaisen), let me know what you think
BlackRain in stores July 20
Reply to RoderickI love independent artists and love to hear their music. I’d like to hear more of ライン, it has my interest.
Reply to TEAMiNFOAs i said before a very complete article, you put a lot of effort and patience on it and is great, people should give a chance to the genere and those artists. A late reply here xD i know, i know, xD You gave so good examples, variety with styles, voices and rythm, so good songs man, 28 D: many are on kanjis, i can’t read them =_= Mr. G will help!
well congrats and keep sharing da music xD
Reply to saiyagokI found this via your link on AP
Great article! Though I feel you should include Home Made Kazoku too 
Reply to metzalxHome Made Kazoku is an excellent group as well. Thank you for the suggestion!
Reply to TEAMiNFO