But anyway, here we go with a breakdown for the last episode in the Nihongo Rap (=”Japanese Rap”) series – ep 131, “Hansei Shitemaasu“, which roughly translates to “I’m soooorrryyy”. The cuts are, in general, about regret, the past, and/or looking forward to the future.

You can play it below, or go check the original post here.

Note that this is only the tracklist – I will be breaking down the actual skit in a future article. You will want to read this.

In the meantime, though, let’s get with these tracks:

MINT – Isoganakya (Gotta Hurry). Somebody feel free to call me out on this, but I forget who actually did this cut first (seriously, someone remind me). Point is, though – it doesn’t matter, because this song is better than that song. @minchanbaby

Cherry Brown – Hayai (Pyuun!) (Fast (Zoom)). I’m not really sure why I didn’t put Cherry Brown in the first episode, but, well, here he is. I think he showed up in The Source Japan (yes, we had one, for like four months), but I lent that issue to my friend and can’t find it now. Cherry makes a lot of weird music – like, a lot – and also produces under the name of Lil’ Yukichi. He also happens to be one of the people who are spearheading this new wave of mixtapes in the Nihongo Rap scene. @twitter.com/cherrycherry_b

A-Thug – Ori no Naka (In the Pen). So this cut is, thematically, pretty easy to understand – references to Scarface, and dude talking about how he spent time in jail, and about his life selling crack. My favorite line:

ヘイズとエクスタシー
Heizu to ekusutashii
Haze and ecstasy

ブラッズとつるみ
Burazzu to tsurumi
Hanging with Bloods*

クラックを造り
Kurakku wo tsukuri
Cooking crack

ブロックを仕切り
Burokku wo shikiri
Running the block

グロックを握り、あ
Gurokku wo nigiri, ah
Gripping Glocks, uh

*I really hope that I’m hearing this incorrectly. Please, let this be wrong.

This sort of talk, of course, is completely unbelievable, and I will personally mail you a dollar if you are able to find five Japanese people that know what the word “Glock” even means. It still sounds cool, though, which is what matters. m/athugscars

AKLO – Chance. From the Aklo 2.0 mixtape, which I recommend – if only for dude’s version of “Forever”. Incidentally, Aklo is also partially the inspiration behind me even doing this series – we had more than a few conversations about the state of Nihongo Rap, and own stance on the importance of mixtapes. Very, very bright dude. This isn’t the best song on the tape, by far – it just fit the theme. m/aklosound

GAGLE – Yuki no Kakumei (Snow Revolution). I swear I’ve heard this sample somewhere – does anyone have any leads? Anyway, Gagle is a pretty respected part of the scene, despite their being from Sendai. I should probably talk more about this at some point, but for a very long time, the general understanding was that if it wasn’t from Tokyo, it wasn’t hip-hop, and it wasn’t worth listening to (though you could argue that Hokkaido natives Tha Blue Herb straightened that out three years before this jawn dropped). This cut is easily my favorite off their 3 Men On Wax record. gagle.jp

PRIMAL , DJ Kohaku, CHIYORI, 02 – Butaiura (Greenroom). Off of DJ Muta’s Character Pack mixtape – which, if you can find, is pretty good. The beat is People Under The Stairs’ Acid Raindrops – and I keep saying this, but seriously, this cut is much better than the original. DJ MUTA’s blog

MINT – “YEAH”de gomakashiteiru (playing it off by saying “yeah”). Okay, that’s a terrible translation, sorry. Anyway, seriously kids, MINT just really goes hard. I was actually done mixing down this episode and chanced upon this cut on dude’s twitter, and absolutely had to fit it in. The hook is really simple, and lyrically actually sort of cheesy, but it’s still just bananas:

おれはずっとこのまま、きっと多分ここなんだ
Ore wa zutto kono mama/kitto tabun koko nanda
Definitely, probably I’ll always be here

YEAHでごまかしてる/自分の居場所探してる
YEAH de gomakashiteru Jibun no ibasho sagashiteru
Playing it off, saying “yeah” searching for my place

Have I mentioned that I’m a terrible translator? I’m a terrible translator. Just trust me, this is a good song.

So that’s what it is for this one – if you have any questions, want to hear on any specific artist, I’m thinking of doing posts on individual artists. Or, you know, if you have comments on the series in general, definitely let me know, either here or via twitter (@dexdigi).

Also, stay on the lookout for the aforementioned article breaking down the skit, and the “Hansei Shitemaaasu” line. It’s shaping up to be pretty interesting.

MIXTAPE 131 -反省してまーす

ご無沙汰しております！でじです。今回は（ちなみに前回も悪くないからチェックしてね）、「反省」をテーマにしてミックステープを作ってみた。イントロはちょっと長めなんで文章は極力短くします。では早速トラックリストへ！

イントロ：Buddha Brand – 黒船

MINT – 急がなきゃ. またまたオリジナルを遥かに超えてみせるみんちゃん。@minchanbaby

Cherry Brown – 早い[ピューン]. 俺、なんで一回目のやつにCherryさんの曲を入れなかったんだろ・・・まあいいや、ここで入れときます！いまシーンでは、フリーミックステープがちょっとしたブームになってるけど、彼はその火付け役の一人でもあり、あと「Lil’諭吉」名義でトラックも作ってる。生産量がハンパない反面、当たり外れも激しい気もするけど、当たった時は本当にやばい。@twitter.com/cherrycherry_b

A-Thug – 塀の中. この曲に出てる話はかなり信じがたい（クラックって流行ってなくね？そして「グロック」というのがなんことなのか、実際知ってるやつはそれほど多くないと思われる…）けど、今回のテーマに合ってるし、カッコいいから入れてみた。反省はしてるけど、後悔はしてない。m/athugscars

AKLO – Chance. AKLOの「2.0」ミックステープから。本人と何回か会ったんだけど、彼のヒップホップに対する観察力はマジで深いし、このシリーズを始めようと思ったのは、彼の影響もある。間違いなくこれからも注目すべき存在です。m/aklosound

GAGLE – 雪ノ革命. AKLOからの前向きな流れで、仙台からの古典！これ知らない人は多分いなくて、「いまさら」感なくはないと思うけど、まあカッコいいから見逃してください。このネタ、確かどこかで聴いた記憶があるような…知ってる方がいらしたら教えて欲しい。ずっと気になってたから。gagle.jp

PRIMAL , DJ 琥珀, CHIYORI, 02 – 舞台裏. DJ MUTAのキャラクターパーク収録。ビートはPUTSのACID RAINDROPS。毎回こんなこといってわるいけど、内容といい、PRIMALと02とビートの相性といい、こっちの方がオリジナルより好き。これを聴いてからPUTS版を聴いてみたら、後者の方がむしろいい加減なビートジャックにきこえちゃうくらい。ちなみに、キャラクターパーク自体はハンパないからそれもオススメです。DJ MUTAのブログ

MINT – YEAHでごまかしてる. 最初は舞台裏で終わろうと思ってたけど、この曲をツイッターで知って、入れない手は無いと思ってアウトロとして付けた。これ説明に困ります。シンプルなような、でも深い曲。これ聴いてから数日間は、フックを思わず口ずさんじゃう。でなければ、病院に行った方がいい。

今回はこんな感じで！楽しく聴いていただければ幸いですが、みんなの声も聞きたいので、愚痴や、ディス・コメントとかあったら、是非メールかコメント欄でどーぞ！！

ツイッターもやってるからフォローよろしく→@dexdigi