Tag Archives: engrish

Nitro Microphone Underground Japanese Rap Expose

Music, , , , , , ,

Nitro Microphone Underground
“Down the Line”
“Akugidenwa (Prank Call)”
“10 Muri”
(from Straight From The Underground)

J-rap is an intriguing genre if anything. A lot of the vernacular is taken from the US Rap scene, but according to the wikipedia article, Japanese rappers are able to “express themselves in a more Japanese style, both in basic language and in regard to themes”. Yet when I went over there back in 2005, I sampled what was current on the Tokyo scene (aka “The Bay Area”). I heard a lot of shit, and everyone wanted to sound like a Japanese DMX—Barks and all.
But forreals though, Japan’s hip-hop/rap scene is developing into its own, and some of that shit bangs! Some of the pop stuff like the Teriyaki Boyz is aight (think Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift), but the real gold is in the underground rap/hip-hop scene.

Nitro Microphone Underground is one of the first j-rap artists who didn’t sell out and pop out their act, and were recognized by the industry for it. With “Down the Line”, the members of the group (Dabo, Macka-chin, Deli, Suiken, Gore-Tex, S-Word, XBS, and Bigzam—its like a Japanese Wu-Tang) take turns passing the mic after 24 bars. Each distinctive flow & swagger is punctuated by a beat the hits the rewind button between each rapper, giving the track a fresh restart each time.

In “10 Muri”, you might recognize some famous samples which are long standbys in the rap producer’s lingua franca. And the memorable, chanting chorus “けっこ、マジ、けっこ、マジ！” (kekko maji kekko maji – “I’m fine. Forreals?”) knocks up the appeal.

“Akugidenwa (Prank Call)” has a lot of the crazy space shit that Japanese producers (and Pharrell) love to include in the background of their tracks. Just as how the Neptunes craft the perfect beat that matches a particular artist’s style, NMU’s hard-hitting delivery matches the repetitive beat perfectly, and shows off the crazy potential of japanese lyricism.

By keeping true to hip-hop (w/o the beats, the MCs are nothin!) NMU makes sure that even if you can’t understand their flow, you can at the very least listen to some high-tempo production with some of the craziest loops since the Neptunes.

Speaking of loops, I also copped some Nujabes shit over there, but couldn’t find anything from Fat Jon or Tsutchie (shoutout to Champloo Fans!). Note: I didn’t look TOO hard.

You see, Japan is a crazy place for hip hop gear collectors. Not only vinyl, but shit from all 4 elements have a strong representation in Japan, whether through special limited editions gear, crazy tech, or bumpin producers. There are even services out there where you pay people to peruse through Japan’s crazy used CD/Book/Video stores to look for that vintage recording/print that you just can’t find anywhere else. I don’t even wanna talk about the shoe/streetwear scene over there. BAPE is a Japanese phenom after all.

PS: Looking at these makes me wanna be a sneakerhead. “Anti-Babylon Equipment” Can it get any more “Crazy Engrish Oxymoron” than that!?

Nitro Microphone Underground Air Force 1s

Bitching

Life, , , , , , , , , ,

Well I was bored again so I decided to read other ppls XAGNA’s (intentional… its funnilier) And I noticed that a lot of ppl were complaining about stuff. I haven’t really complained about anything on here for awhile now so I feel left out.

Yesterday I was sad because all of my friends back here at home suck. They go on with their own lives, and since I’ve been away all year, this going on doesn’t really include me. I felt left out and sad. Luckily, my girlfriend is hella cool and cheered me up. I love that girl she’s cool.

Um… yeah. I also complain about AOL. It sucks and always tries to be slick and kick me off. It pisses me off when I’m trying to get some of the songs I was talking about earlier from Clockw0rk (IM him!) and AOL is bitchy and says “No!” and proceeds to either kick me off or ask to kick me off. wtf I’ll TELL you when I wanna get off ok? And besides, just because I don’t wanna use the crappy AOL browser doesn’t mean i’m not doing shit! Blah! Grr! (although I do understand AOL does that because its #1 ISP in America and kicks you off to reduce stress and shit). Blah!

I also complain about the crappy cell service I’ve been getting recently. When I first got the cell, I had full bars. Now, I struggle for 2. WTF. This makes talking to said girlfriend very difficult and leads to many cut offs and hello? hello? are you there? hello? exchanges which waste my precious minutes. And no, I’m not on cingular, I’m on ATT, so bad service is NOT in the contract. In fact, we’re with ATT because they said that service is always wonderful. Fuck that. One time, it said I was fucking ROAM ing wtf. NO! I wasn’t! F that S! Blah!

Okay I’m done complaining now. So now, there is a reason to read my blog, other than my normal “I do nothing” kinda stuff. I hope all those who complain about stuff (with good reason…most of the time), somehow find a way to make it so you don’t complain and your dreams come true. That would be wonderful, and then instead of worrying about relationship problems (which accounts for 90% of the complaining… reasonable cuz I used to complain about that too sometimes), we can start anew our effort to end world hunger. The world would be perfect and everyone would be a machine. Today I told clock to say “Too Short” because ppl think its cool. Cammy says “Too Short” when she wins, and it doesn’t really make any sense. Then again, Cable says, “Pushed TOO far” and that is kinda silly as well. Oh well, so be it. I would normally insert a crazy White quote now (White is a japanese sf player who posts crazy engrish on SRK forums), but I am not on my computer and do not have complete access to them. So instead, here’s a nifty (!) quote that has some VG relationing.

“If video games, like Pac-Man for example, influenced kids, then they’d all be running around in little dark rooms, munching white pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.”
–Creator of Nintendo