vgambit Wrote:Shogen live is hype.

They threw vinyl into the audience!

God as much as I LOVE 証言 I can't stand the second and third guy... and I always forget their names. Probably because they have no flow and I have no interest in them.

thatkidpercy Wrote:For me the best Japanese hip hop producer by far is DJ Mitsu - he's put out several albums under his own name which mainly feature English-speaking artists, but he also produces for his brother (Hunger) who together form a group called GAGLE. They've put out 5 or 6 albums and they're all solid, can be listened to from start to finish... no rubbishy club beats at all. If you like DJ Premier, Dilla, Pete Rock etc. I'm sure you'll like them a lot.

This is the track that got me into them:

GAGLE - Big Bang Theory

This is a bit more recent:

Hunger - Jappcats

Grooveman Spot is another awesome producer, although again usually works with American artists:

Grooveman Spot feat. Hunger, Raythought & U-Zipplain - My Mind

The following are a few more artists I like a lot.

SOUL SCREAM - 蜂と蝶

Steady & Co. - 春夏秋冬 (you'll recognise ILMARI if you've listened to RIP SLYME)

BIG-O & DJ WATARAI - I'm Gonna Be Alright

SHINGO☆西成 - ILL西成BLUES (Geek Remix)

You might have heard of Dragon Ash (the leader Kenji Furaya also put together Steady & Co above) - they're hard to categorise as they've changed their style a lot, starting with pretty standard hip hop but now heavily influenced by reggae and Spanish guitar!! They're insteresting though and worth a listen:

Dragon Ash - Los Lobos

The next two are bit more abstract, not really on the same vibe as the rest I posted.

MICHITA - 足跡

Suburban featuring Shing02 - 栞

I personally really enjoy instrumental hip hop, and there are a lot of great Japanese artists in this genre too. They rarely feauture Japanese lyrics but you still might want to check out the likes of NUJABES, HIMUKI, NOMAK, SHINGO SUZUKI, TSUNENORI, UYAMA HIROTO etc....

NAJUBES - Still talking to you

SHINGO SUZUKI - Inside your love

Just for fun here's some good Korean hip hop aswell:

화나 (Feat. 황보령) - 화약고 (I love this beat!!)

Drunken Tiger - 뽕짝이야기 (might sound familiar if you listen to Non Phixion)

All star post here! Oh man there are some great links! Some guys here I forget to mention, and there are even some I've never heard of, and I've been collecting Japanese hip hop for a while now.

For example, just who is SHINGO☆西成? I've never seen that name mentioned...

I've also never heard of MICHITA...

And thanks for the Korean hip hop! I'm learning some korean right now and this will make it easier to get pronunciation down, as well as listening practice. That song by Drunken Tiger is incredible, by the way! Excellent flow and beat!

I recognize SHINGO☆西成 from KREVA's 「アグレッシ部」 REMIX from his 「よろしくお願いします」 album.

I actually have one of MICHITA's albums. VERY mellow beats similar to tracks Nujabes produces. Worth a look if your into that type of style. I'd gladly be willing to let someone check it out if interested.

Also, vgambit, these guys should be added to your playlist. I would seek their best album as it is has tons of great tracks.

COMA-CHI actually did a female version of the song (and boy, she can flow).

I'm also a bit of a beat snob who loves Hip Hop (especially Underground) - but I think tastes in beats can be highly individual.

GREAT THREAD!

I think KREVA posted
NORIKIYO / DO MY THING
http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...Sk[/video]

Love this one, the beat is simple but has that "special something" that for me categorizes it as "SUPER DOPE"!

I definitely liked a lot of the other links as well. That Korean Hip Hop was pretty sweet...

I have very little J Hip Hop, and want more. My favorite one I have in my small collection is this -

http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...gQ[/video] - I just love the beat and flows there, and DJ Krush has that heady sound that's just plain ill...

TaylorSan Wrote:I have very little J Hip Hop, and want more. My favorite one I have in my small collection is this -

http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...gQ[/video] - I just love the beat and flows there, and DJ Krush has that heady sound that's just plain ill...

DRAGON ASH is awesome. Though I wish they would revive their hip-hop spirit, they seem to do well in any genre they cross over to. I think DRAGON ASH and RIP SLYME do an amazing job in blending guitar with hip-hop elements. A good example, and my favorite from them, is this:

(The beat is SO CHILL! Also like the whistle element.)

KREVA Wrote:

TaylorSan Wrote:I have very little J Hip Hop, and want more. My favorite one I have in my small collection is this -

http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...gQ[/video] - I just love the beat and flows there, and DJ Krush has that heady sound that's just plain ill...

DRAGON ASH is awesome. Though I wish they would revive their hip-hop spirit, they seem to do well in any genre they cross over to. I think DRAGON ASH and RIP SLYME do an amazing job in blending guitar with hip-hop elements. A good example, and my favorite from them, is this:

(The beat is SO CHILL! Also like the whistle element.)

Nice! I knew I heard that song somewhere - Battle Royale! I like this version MUCH better, however. Thanks, man!

Oh yes, I love Shing02:
400

Also for Korean Hip-Hop:

Drunken Tiger - MONSTER

Drunken Tiger - Jet Pack

The English versions they made of thiese song are JUST as good! Monster, the english version, has RAKIM on it, and Jet Pack, has ZEEBRA rapping in English!!!

There's also an album put out by Sphere of Influence that has a lot of good beats mixed with other languages besides Japanese. The album is called Color, and to give you a good example, check this out:

(Zeebra doing some ill verses in English)

and

(Sphere and JIN, where both do a verse in English, the Sphere a verse in Japanese and JIN does a verse in chinese (cantonese)).

Ryuujin27 Wrote:There's also an album put out by Sphere of Influence that has a lot of good beats mixed with other languages besides Japanese. The album is called Color, and to give you a good example, check this out:

(Zeebra doing some ill verses in English)

and

(Sphere and JIN, where both do a verse in English, the Sphere a verse in Japanese and JIN does a verse in chinese (cantonese)).

I have this COLOR album you speak of. My first impressions was that it sounded like an m-flo album with all the female collaborations.

You guys should check out SIMON. He's one of the few Japanese rappers that I've seen who has the swagger that of an American rapper and it shows in his flow. The other guy in this video, Anarchy, is also nice.

(Be sure to wach it in 720p! )

kinda different, i'm not really into hip-hop anymore so i'm not too bothered about flow or whatever. anyway, this: http://www.myspace.com/leopaldon

A bit redundant, but some tangents via the Geskia! album...

Eccy ft. Haiiro de Rossi -

DOTAMA＆OLD MACHINE 「a letter from my heart」 -

Bonus:

Half rhymes in Japanese rap lyrics and knowledge of similarity

Has anyone read that book Hip Hop Japan (2006)?

nest0r Wrote:Has anyone read that book Hip Hop Japan (2006)?

Yep I read it and even did a paper on it in college. It's an excellent read, and really the only thing that you can read in English (or even Japanese) on Japanese hip-hop culture. It's well written, interesting, and informative. If you're interested, I'd definitely recommend picking it up.

Ryuujin27 Wrote:There's also an album put out by Sphere of Influence that has a lot of good beats mixed with other languages besides Japanese. The album is called Color, and to give you a good example, check this out:

(Zeebra doing some ill verses in English)

and

(Sphere and JIN, where both do a verse in English, the Sphere a verse in Japanese and JIN does a verse in chinese (cantonese)).

I still haven't checked the rest of the tracks (my internet is capped) the OP linked but I'm really into Jazz-hop beats.

So i'll have to cehck em out once I get uncapped - Next week

Ryuujin27 Wrote:

nest0r Wrote:Has anyone read that book Hip Hop Japan (2006)?

Yep I read it and even did a paper on it in college. It's an excellent read, and really the only thing that you can read in English (or even Japanese) on Japanese hip-hop culture. It's well written, interesting, and informative. If you're interested, I'd definitely recommend picking it up.

Cool, so it's not a hatchet job or something.

Plus I'll use this comment to correct wrong link in previous one:

(for the Dotama)

liosama Wrote:

Ryuujin27 Wrote:There's also an album put out by Sphere of Influence that has a lot of good beats mixed with other languages besides Japanese. The album is called Color, and to give you a good example, check this out:

(Zeebra doing some ill verses in English)

and

(Sphere and JIN, where both do a verse in English, the Sphere a verse in Japanese and JIN does a verse in chinese (cantonese)).

I still haven't checked the rest of the tracks (my internet is capped) the OP linked but I'm really into Jazz-hop beats.

So i'll have to cehck em out once I get uncapped - Next week

If you're really into jazz-hop beats, let me take this time to recommend Loop Junktion.

I've got two of their albums I found on various blogs. Just do some googling for them.

Ryuujin27 Wrote:

liosama Wrote:

Ryuujin27 Wrote:There's also an album put out by Sphere of Influence that has a lot of good beats mixed with other languages besides Japanese. The album is called Color, and to give you a good example, check this out:

(Zeebra doing some ill verses in English)

and

(Sphere and JIN, where both do a verse in English, the Sphere a verse in Japanese and JIN does a verse in chinese (cantonese)).

I still haven't checked the rest of the tracks (my internet is capped) the OP linked but I'm really into Jazz-hop beats.

So i'll have to cehck em out once I get uncapped - Next week

If you're really into jazz-hop beats, let me take this time to recommend Loop Junktion.

I've got two of their albums I found on various blogs. Just do some googling for them.

Also, Oxmo Puccino's Lipopette Bar. Okay, not Japanese, but still.

Where do you guys go and download your hip hop stuff? Ive been searching for a while and I havn't been able to find any decent places

yeah, controlle.net was awesome while it lasted. I'd love to know some places to download japanese hip hop videos these days.

Btw, Loop Junktion was my favorite japanese hip hop group while they lasted. A very talented band with a funky jazzy sound. Their last album ("Turkey") is my favorite Loop Junktion album.

Since breaking up, former members formed a group called "Cro-Magnon", which has this progressive funky danceable jazzy instrumental sound.

There's been nothing I couldn't find* via Blogger, YouTube, Soulseek, LJ, Nico-type clones, random Google searches + megaupload type keywords... and um of course after I marked those locations down and reported them for piracy, I then expensively import the albums.

*Even recently found the rare 走馬党 album I was looking for.

Another recommend: Uzi is hit and miss with me, but if you Google "uzi warning shiba-yankee", the 10th link or so that leads to blogspot will give you the chance to hear track 10 - 'Warning! feat. Shiba-yankee, Shinnosk8 et al.', I quite like it.

Tobberoth Wrote:For the people who have a good taste in hip hop, hell yeah Kreva rocks. He's actually the last rapper in the song I posted.

LOL. I take it by good taste, you mean the same taste you have, right?

@OP

In my life, you are the first person I've encountered who uses the word 'dope.' Thought this thread was some sort of troll, or that you were being facetious, when I read the opening lines.

Nice tracks, though.

中盤戦 by KREVA is seriously my jam lately.

kazelee Wrote:

Tobberoth Wrote:For the people who have a good taste in hip hop, hell yeah Kreva rocks. He's actually the last rapper in the song I posted.

LOL. I take it by good taste, you mean the same taste you have, right?

@OP

In my life, you are the first person I've encountered who uses the word 'dope.' Thought this thread was some sort of troll, or that you were being facetious, when I read the opening lines.

Nice tracks, though.

Well, people who are into hip-hop sometimes use these words. I assume you don't hang out with too many hip-hop heads.

Edit:

Whoa. I'm finally listening to Jackin 4 Beats by Zeebra. He goes IN.

"I don't give a f*ck about a TV rap star"

Also, the fact that he actually is "jacking" beats is pretty awesome. I'm noticing samples from a bunch of other Japanese hip-hop tracks in the background.

Hah, they listed the beats in the description:

1.Microphone Pager 「病む街」
2.大神「大怪我」
3.RHYMESTER 「B-BOYイズム」
4.BUDDHA BRAND 「人間発電所」
5.LAMP EYE 「証言」
6.ラッパ我リヤ「Do the GARIYA thing」
7.DABO 「拍手喝采」
8.YOU THE ROCK★ 「FUKUROU(YAKANHIKOU)」
9.SOUL SCREAM 「蜂と蝶」
10.OZROSAURUS 「AREA AREA」

Ryuujin27 Wrote:If you're really into jazz-hop beats, let me take this time to recommend Loop Junktion.

I've got two of their albums I found on various blogs. Just do some googling for them.

Good stuff, thanks

Evil_Dragon Wrote:

Ryuujin27 Wrote:If you're really into jazz-hop beats, let me take this time to recommend Loop Junktion.

I've got two of their albums I found on various blogs. Just do some googling for them.

Good stuff, thanks

Haha, my recommendation for Loop Junktion is only a few posts above this one.
After they broke up, the former members formed Cro-Magnon. Basically, Loop Junktion without the rapper.

Check it out:

Also, Loop Junktion music videos mostly sucked, but their albums more than
made up for that.

I just realized that I don't think anyone has actually recommended Soul Scream. They've got really, really good lyricism. They have put out a few albums so be sure to check them out.

Samples:

(My favorite of theirs)

(Beat featured in Jackin' 4 Beats + this song is on DJ Nobu's album Black File)

Another guilty pleasure from a hit and miss artist for me is Zeebra's track 'The System' from the album Tokyo's Finest (DDL easily found via Google/blogspot). Can't say I like the rest of the album, though. Well, that Supatech song is pretty decent too: