From our Japanese Hip Hop Research Labs

Rip Slyme - By the Way
Rip Slyme - バンザイ
From Tokyo Classic: Warners WPC7 - 10147 [Buy Here]

Bit of an Easter Egg Special today: Japanese hip-hop. Not underground, not obscure, just lots of fun. When I was over in Japan travelling last year, it was very clear that Rip Slyme were one of the most popular local bands in the land - posters everywhere, and they seemed to be special guests on every game show on TV every night (along with Akebono, who appeared to be promoting some kind of i-Mode mobile Playstation compatible network robot from Sony, or whatever. It hardly seemed to matter).

After a friend of mine played me a couple of Rip Slyme songs, I knew I had to get one of their albums as an ultimate souvenir of my trip. This record reminds me of what an amazing and strange place Japan is for a Eurofried white male New Zealander with a backpack. Tokyo is surely the only city in the world that has turned itself into a mind-altering substance.

Given that most of the stuff on the web about Rip Slyme is in Japanese (and my Japanese extends to ordering green tea from the trolley lady on a shinkansen, and little else), there's very little I can actually tell you about these guys. Five guys - 4 MCs (Ryo-Z, Ilmari, Pes and Su) and DJ Fumiya. They won the award for best rap group in Japan in 2002. Japan Today has a reasonable article in English.

Shinjuku, Tokyo - it's really like this, and more.

As for the music, it ain't nuthin' but a party y'all. Mostly Japanese lyrics sprinkled with a refracted J-English of insignificant meaning. Listen and be boggled.

Mucho Respecto:
To Los Cabrones, the Afro-Cuban outfit from Australia who played at Galatos in Auckland last night. Their second tune was Indestructible by Ray Barretto, and they had me hooked from that point onwards. Very, very impressive. They're over here to play at the Easter weekend Jambalaya festival in Rotorua, so their brief stopover in Auckland was much appreciated !