about it Arial, sans-serif; margin:0; padding: 3px 4px; color:#999;”>MIXTAPE 142 – STAYING OCCUPIED by Mixtape Show / Dex Digital on Mixcloud

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INTROLUDE. Knxwledge. – Kafe @Knxwledge
5lack/Slack – ????
Hodgy Beats – Memorex Cds @killhodgy
Rimco – Chrono Trigger ‘Winds of Time’ OC Remix
Sticky – Where’s My Money
Snubnose Frankenstein – The 6th Man @ snubdogg
Key – KeyKey @keiopensdoors
OUTROLUDE. Holy Girl – How to Stay on the Ground (demo clip)

things changed radically for me in some ways and stayed the same in others. we must protect lil b at all costs. thanks to those who waited.

ham-R.

日本語ラップ・ファン、いや、日本の音楽の最先端に興味のある人ならこの名前を知らない人は多分いないと思う。だが、知られているのは名前と音楽だけで、他の事は謎が多い。映像を作るが滅多に画面に顔を出さない。いろんなところで話題になるが自分から自分の話はしないし、インタビューに滅多に答えないらしい。ツイッターはつかわない。ブログは１年前から放置状態。数ヶ月以内に４本ものミックステープを出し、また姿を消す。考えてみれば、それは２年前の話だ。

そう、突然STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISHを発表してから既に２年も経っているが、今聞いてもやばい（ご本人の意見はさておき）。

この一連の作品に圧倒され、アルバムに期待していた人は多いはず。わたしもそのひとりだった。

しかし、２年たってもアルバム出ないし、曲も出ない。いったい、ham-rはいま何している？

ということで、本人に６つほどの質問を質疑応答形式で訊いてみた。これはもともとアメリカの雑誌の取材のために行われたインタビューなので、質問は若干「海外視点」になっているかもしれない。ただ、読み返してみたら興味深いものがあったので、本人の許可を得てここにもアップさせていただきました。

まずは簡単な自己紹介をお願いします（出身、趣味、ラップ・プロデュースするようになったキッカケなど）

創作活動時の名をham-Rと申します。東京出身。趣味は特にございません。幼少時より映画監督になりたくて、映画に必要な要素を片っ端から習得しようとしたのが音楽活動のキッカケです。長年絵を描いていて芸術全般を勉強していたのですが、20歳位の時に音楽の制作も始めました。その流れで制作会社を立ち上げたり、PV監督を務めたりと、現在も映画を撮るための準備段階にあるような未熟者です。

僕の印象なんだけど、日本語ラップってここ3年までは、オンラインで、しかも無料の作品を出すのはあまり普通ではなかった。でもたとえばアメリカでは、かなり前から、ネットでミックステープを宣伝のツールとしてタダで出すのが当たり前になっています。そのギャップはどこからきたと思います？

なかなか難しい質問です。
日本の国民性は根本的に外来のものに対して閉鎖的なので、おそらくそれが本質的な要因でしょう。島国、小さな国土・高い人口密度であることによって国民の「安定性」に対する欲求が非常に強いので、本来大きな変化を受け入れる体質ではありません。クリエイター・アーティスト単位で言及すると、バイタリティーの低さ、それによる新しいネットインフラに対する認識の甘さが一因なのではないでしょうか。クリエイター・アーティストを支えるサポート側、いわゆる業界の人間というのは既存のシステムから逸脱することを嫌います。短期的には見込める収益を欠くのでプロモーションといえどなかなかフリーコンテンツを扱うインフラを整えようとは考えないものです。それは海外でも同様でしょう。
つまりプロモーションにも関わらず、クリエイター・アーティスト側が自ら動かなければ、「ネットを利用しプロモーションとしてフリーツールを展開する」という概念は発生しない訳です。
ただ、上記の国民性によるものなのか、日本のクリエイター・アーティストの間で、それがなかなか発生しませんでした。直接的なギャップをもたらした原因はそこにあるのかもしれません。

まえ、日本人はパソコンをあまり使わなくてむしろ携帯でネット・メールするとか、という話をした記憶があるんだけど、それも関与していると思います？

携帯の話は、いわゆるガラパゴス化現象を説明したかったのだと思います。ガラパゴス化が世界からの孤立化を招き様々な弊害を各方面に及ぼしていましたが、独自のネット自体は存在していましたし、ユニークな文化を形成できた一面もあるので、必ずしも大きな要因とは言えないかもしれません。

ミックステープの質問の続きですが、早い段階から無料でミックステープを出してた人として、当時の考えについて少し教えてください。

2009年、「A Day On The Way」という最初のミックステープを我が社から発表しました。当時僕の部下だったDJ UWAYこと現ユニバーサルミュージックA&R三上氏と考えていたのは形式の輸入です。質問1にあるような概念を日本で流布する簡単なきっかけ作りをしようとしたのです。三上氏が元々本場アトランタでDJとして活動していてサウスシーンに詳しかったので、内容もDJ DRAMAのGangsta Grillzを日本語で展開する様な設定でプロデュースしました。ただその概念の普及には時間がかかると思いましたし、普及してもすぐに形骸化するだろうという予想を当時から二人でしていました。

両シーンに詳しい人として、今の日本のミックステープの文化や、シーン全体について、海外の人に知ってほしいことなどをきかせてください。

特に今の日本のミックステープの文化や、シーン全体に詳しい訳ではないのですが、既述の予想通り、日本のミックステープシーン自体は形骸化してしまったように見えます。海外の方々にとって真新しいほどの現象は起きていないのではないでしょうか。日本において、シーンとは市場ではなくコミュニティーの様相を帯びています。そこに競争原理が働かなければ、シーンとして海外に紹介出来るほど成熟することは不可能でしょう。また、より的確に作品を理解し、解釈、体系化できる評論家も必要でしょう。

そんな中、シーンと呼べるのかわかりませんが、ニコニコ動画がやはり面白いです。
二次使用の面白さが特筆されがちですが、アマチュアクリエイターのプラットフォームとして、海外のどのサイトと比べても非常に優れていると思います。supercellの活躍は優れた一例なのではないでしょうか。ただし、体系化が難しく、不完全さとかなり限定された趣向が好まれるので。、まだその意味合いを海外に説明するのは難しいかもしれません。

特に影響を受けたアーティストを5人ほどあげるならば、誰かいます？

Hans Zimmer, apoplexy
D’angelo, health
Trevor Horn, view
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,Jimi Hendrix,Skreamなどでしょうか。正直、挙げたらきりがないです。日本では中島みゆきの詩の世界に非常に感銘を受けました。

今注目している日本語ラップのアーティストは？
昔から日本語ラップをほとんど聴かないので何とも言えませんが、日本の他のジャンルを見渡しても、Cherry Brownは唯一オリジナリティーがあって面白いアーティストだと思います。それこそ、日本におけるフリープロモーションに関しては彼が先駆者です。彼が的確に動けば、もう少し意義のあるコンテクストを内包した文化が形成されると思います。

ham-rのことを全く知らない、でもラップは好き、という人に、一番オススメな曲は？ミックステープは？
私の今までの作品は実験的で、全て数日で制作した非常にお粗末な物なのでお勧めも特にございません。
来年におそらく最初で最後のアルバムを発表できると思いますが、是非そちらをお楽しみ頂けたらと思います。

FatKidsBrotha – NWA ft Snubnose Frankenstein. I had this on repeat for a really long time. This whole tape is good – check them out on bandcamp.

A$AP Rocky – Been Around The World (Chopped and Screwed). From an older mixtape. This is a really mean song. Does identifying with this song make me a bad person?

S.L.A.C.K. – Hatsugen On Skit ft Rau Def. You’ve heard S.L.A.C.K. here before, but I don’t think I’ve played any Rau Def. I really like what both of these dudes are doing, but Rau Def right now especially is on some wildness. Over the summer he started attacking Zeebra (sort of a living legend in Japanese rap) for absolutely no reason. It was pretty funny.
no twitter for S.L.A.C.K. Rau is @xxxRAUDEFxxx

FatKidsBrotha – Queso ft Key! and Snubnose Frankenstein. Just stop what you’re doing now and get their tape.

Gucci Mane – Stupid (ahnnu remix). HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. swag.
@ahnnu

Ham-R – Workinonit Remix. I have a lot of respect for this dude. This is off a tape he put out in 2010, which was the hands-down most forward thinking mixtape in Japanese rap that year. He’s supposed to be putting together an album right now.
@hammerdahustler

Curtis Williams – This Her Jam ft MoneyMakinNique and Alkebulan. This is a pretty cool mixtape all around, but this track just kills. Also, the tape is called Trill Shit Only, which is worth a lot of points.
@thatboycurtis

and that’s it for this one. and yeah, i’m on twitter? @dexdigi

download this episode

Tracklist

intro – homeworklude
Ham-r – Workinonit Remix (ultra)
Curtis Williams – This Her Jam ft. MoneyMakinNique & Alkebulan (ultra)
S.L.A.C.K. – Hatsugen On Skit ft Rau Def (ultra)
Gucci Mane – Stupid (ahnnu remix) (ultra)
FatKidsBrotha – Queso ft Snubnose (ultra)

probably soultronica next. holler. @dexdigi

download this episode

(introlude) Kubota Toshinobu – Ichizu na Yoru, Mukizu na Asa

FatKidsBrotha – NWA ft Snubnose Frankenstein. I had this on repeat for a really long time. This whole tape is good – check them out on bandcamp.

A$AP Rocky – Been Around The World (Chopped and Screwed). From an older mixtape. This is a really mean song.

S.L.A.C.K. – Hatsugen On Skit ft Rau Def. You’ve heard S.L.A.C.K. here before, but I don’t think I’ve played any Rau Def. I really like what both of these dudes are doing, but Rau Def right now especially is on some wildness. Over the summer he started attacking Zeebra (sort of a living legend in Japanese rap) for absolutely no reason. It was pretty funny.
no twitter for S.L.A.C.K. Rau is @xxxRAUDEFxxx

FatKidsBrotha – Queso ft Key! and Snubnose Frankenstein. Just stop what you’re doing now and get their tape.

Gucci Mane – Stupid (ahnnu remix). HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. swag.
@ahnnu

Ham-R – Workinonit Remix. I have a lot of respect for this dude. This is off a tape he put out in 2010, which was the hands-down most forward thinking mixtape in Japanese rap that year. He’s supposed to be putting together an album right now.
@hammerdahustler

Curtis Williams – This Her Jam ft MoneyMakinNique and Alkebulan. This is a pretty cool mixtape all around, but this track just kills. Also, the tape is called Trill Shit Only, which is worth a lot of points.
@thatboycurtis

and that’s it for this one. and yeah, i’m on twitter: @dexdigi

MIXTAPE 137 – OHAYOU JAPAN

I can’t really write much now. I recorded this last night. I am not in Japan now so I’m obviously safe, sovaldi sale and the friends I’ve been able to get ahold of are all safe, but I’m still pretty upset – so no track breakdown.

The intro probably doesn’t make any sense, sorry. Things are going to be hard for a while, but I figured the very least I could do was post some swagged out cuts to keep people thinking about my friends.

holler→ @dexdigi

予め申しますと、このミックステープは日本在住の方を対象に作られていません。むしろ、俺と同じく海外に住んでいる人たちの為です。

ちょっと説明します。

俺はニューヨーク州在住、カリフォルニア＆高田馬場レペゼンのでじです。朝起きてニュースに釘付けになってしまい、ひたすらツイッターをチェックしてた。

東京や福島に住んでいる友達・家族と連絡は一応とれたが、それでも一向に気持ちが晴れず、ずっと心配しまくってた。

しかし一番つらかったのは、俺にはなにもできない、という事実だった。そう思ったけど、いや、一つできることがあるんじゃないかな、とちょっとしたら気づいた。

少なくとも、被災地にいるみなさんのことを、海外にいる人達に考えてもらうことくらいはできる、と思いついた。もちろん、手段は音楽で。俺は別に大物のDJじゃないけど、一つのパイプラインは出来ているし、それを使えばなにかをアピールすることはできるかな、と。

そう思って、日本語ラップのミクステをつくってみました。

曲の内容とか、歌詞とかはあんま気にしてない（どうせリスナーの殆どは日本語わかんないしｗ）。俺は普段テーマを決めた上で作成するけど、
今回は別にテーマに沿ってポッドキャストを作ったわけじゃないし。まあ、テーマがあるとしたら、俺がかっこいいと思った曲、くらいかなｗ

なんで、無理して前向きの歌詞だけとか、哀愁ただよう曲とかを入れようとは一切せず、
逆に、日本語ラップのかっこいいとこ、俺を含め多くの人を魅了した日本語ラップのヤバさを海外の人たちにいまこそアピールしたいと思ってつくってみました。

あんまり集中できなかったから、ミックスはそんなによくないし、もっと頑張ればもっといい選曲はできたかもしれない。ただ思いついた曲をバンバン入れてみただけだし、短時間で出したかった、という理解の上で聴いていただけたら、と思います。

あと、著作権に触れるかもしれないというコンテンツも入ってるけど、そっち方面のお問い合わせはツイッターでお願いします。@dexdigi　です。

これから色んな形での救援活動が行われると思いますが、取りあえず日本だけではなくて、地球の裏側の奴らも心からみんなの無事を祈ってる、ということをこの一発でみんなにお知らせしたかった。今日、日本語ラップの新しいファンが生まれる。それだけは保証できる。

みなさん、頑張ってください。

Seeda – Intro
Norikiyo – Ore hana no megane
Gasface – Problems
Yuki aka Juto – Show u my mixtape
Cherry Brown – Work Work Work!
S.L.A.C.K. – Deep Shit
Megahi – Kick the Megahi
Seeda ft MoNDoH、NIPPS、AKLO、STICKY、HORI、SLACK、SQUASH SQUAD、H.TEFLON – No One But Us
Ham-R – Can’t Stop
Rau Def – Doggg Race

So let me make something clear upfront.

First off, after being here for over a year, I think I can say with confidence that a large portion of Japanese hip-hop is not very good². I would actually go as far to say that a good portion of it is actually completely unlistenable, and that any non-native speaker of Japanese who claims to prefer Japanese rap over, say, its American counterpart is either very very familiar with the underground scene here, or lacks musical taste.^2.5

This coming from someone who only has Japanese rap in his mp3 player.

Second, I should also say here if someone asked me who my favorite Japanese rapper was, at this point in time I’d have to say Seeda. It is also an undisputable fact my opinion that his last album is a landmark record in Japanese rap history, is the best Japanese rap record out right now, and is going to be a major force in what happens over the next couple years in the scene. So if you want to call me biased, sure, I’m biased. But then again, I’m not really known for talking much on this site about things I don’t like.

Second point five, people who have been following the show might recognize the Seeda from the mildly infamous Niggas and Bitches episode (Seeda isn’t the rapper whose lyrics I took up, though – that was Oki). Yes, this is the dude who shared a mic with that rapper in the video. Possibly something to keep in mind as you read this.

Third, I’m going to try to avoid making really broad generalizations about Japanese society/politics – partially because such generalizations aren’t possible, and partially because if you wanna know more about society/politics, there are better places to learn about that than from me. As good as I am at hiding it, I actually don’t know anything about anything, and encourage you to do your own research.

So, on to the track itself. This one is called Dear Japan, by Seeda, produced by Bach Logic. I actually heard this maybe four or so months ago when Seeda put it up for a couple days on his myspace, and actually liked it enough to want to drop it on the show. Didn’t happen, obviously.

Okay, let’s get to the video already:

Seeda – Dear Japan (prod. Bach Logic)

The first thing that you will notice is that dude stares at the camera for like fifteen full seconds before he even says a word. If I may be permitted to say something here about dude （Seedaさん、気を悪くしないで下さいね）, dude kinda has a crazy look in his eye. And he continues to make really skurry faces at the camera for the whole video. So if that makes you uncomfortable, yeah.

Lyrical breakdown, background, and wild, baseless speculations after the jump.

The video itself – there’s not really much to say about it. It’s simple, but I sort of like it that way, because it actually really fits with what dude is talking about pretty well. There’s actually another “proper” video in the works (shouts to ham-R) for another joint off the same album, but I’m not sure when that’s gonna be ready.

But what I’d like to focus on today really is the track itself. Aside from having extremely dope production (Bach Logic = favorite Japanese producer right now), the lyrics are kina interesting. Let’s get into the first section. First section is Japanese, second is transliterated into roman letters, third is my translation.

クラブのbeefは　ラップより喧嘩
ラジオのbeefは　ラップより大人？
kurabu no beef ha rap yori kenka [β]
rajio no beef ha rap yori otona?
Beef at the club more fighting than rapping
Beef on the radio is more “adultlike” than rapping

As you’ll probably notice in a second, stuff that sounds cool in Japanese doesn’t necessarily sound good in English. Also, there are limits to my Japanese ability (read: I suck), so if anyone fluent out there wants to contribute more fluent/accurate translations, or if I’m just totally off in my interpretation on something, please, hit the comments section and correct me.

So contextwise, this track was leaked immediately after the airing of the last episode of Verbal’s (of Teriyaki Boys) podcast featuring Seeda. As I mentioned in Episode 117, after Seeda dissed Verbal, Verbal turned around and invited him on as a guest on his talk show, saying that “Japanese people can’t understand the concept of ‘beef’, so we have to educate them“. Seeda accepted the invite, but was disappointed with the, how do you say – non-hip-hop-ness of how Verbal handled things, and said as much on the show. At the end of the special, which somebody converted and posted up on youtube, the two freestyle “battled”, which resulted in Verbal absolutely embarrassing himself. But more of that on another day.

Point is, the first part of this song comes off as Seeda being pissed off about Verbal’s sorta holier-than-thou attitude. But then all of a sudden the track turns into a pretty violent criticism of the government.

どこぞの官僚政治家ども
お前の息子がさらわれてもそう、
ソファーにふかくこしかる　重い腰
いまかいまか待ち人　は年老い
dokozo no kanryou seijikadomo
omae no musuko ga sawaretemo sou
sofa ni fukaku kosikaru omoi koshi
imaka imaka matihito ha tosioi
random-ass bureaucrats
is this what you do when your children are abducted?
sitting there on the couch
the people who need your help are getting old waiting for you

Okay, yeah, that was a terrible translation. Here, he’s talking about the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens during the 70s and 80s (Japanese version here). I won’t go into detail here, but essentially the NK goverment abducted at least 16 Japanese citizens, some say for use in training spies. North Korea didn’t officially admit it until the early 2000s, and only actually allowed a few to return. I’m not up enough on the issue to say much more, but suffice to say that a lot of Japanese people are still really heated about the lack of pressure the Japanese government is putting on to get people back to their families and to the bottom of things, and the issue is still being debated.

What’s interesting here is that Japanese rap isn’t really known for being directly political. When something does get “conscious” (ps – hate that word) or “political”, out here, it’s usually sort of ambiguous on some “television is bad, society is troubled” kind of tip, and it’s rare to see someone actually point fingers or get in someone’s face. But let’s move on -

遅いなんてものは一つもない
塵も減らせば山は消える right?
I wanna I wanna I need dat I need that I need that believe that
裁判官、検事、警察はグル
本当のことを教えてくれ aight?
I wonna I need dat believe dat
osoi nantemono ha hitotu mo nai
tiri mo heraseba yama ha kieru right?
I wanna I wanna I need dat I need that I need that believe that
saibankan, kenji, keisatu mo guru
hontou no koto wo oshiete kure aight?
It’s not too late
If you take enough specks of dust away, even a mountain will disappear
I wanna I wanna I need dat I need that I need that believe that
The judges, the detectives, the police are all in it together
tell me what’s really going on, aight?

Healthy distrust of the police/justice system here. Nothing really surprising for a listener of American hip-hop here, but you don’t see much of this in Japanese rap.

Or, for example, this:

まわりくどい　不透明や妥協
俺はぶれないファック麻生

海の向こうをお前がみれば
不景気がなんだ
YES WE CANさ
オバマと団結し向かう明日
同じ夢見れる　そんなリーダー
mawari kudoi futoumei ya dakyou
ore ha burenai, fakku asou
umi no mukou wo omae ga mireba
fukeiki ga nanda
YES WE CANさ
Obama to danketu si mukau asita
onaji yume mireru sonna riidaa

You probably recognized at least one phrase in there. Here’s the translation:

beating around the bush, purposefully unclear statements and compromises
“I won’t budge” – Fuck (prime minister) Aso!
If you looked over across the ocean – what “financial slowdown”?
“Yes We Can”!
They can collaborate with Obama and face tomorrow
Someone who shares the same dreams as the people – that’s the kind of leader we want

This section is interesting on a couple of points. First off, Seeda gets on and says, in public, “fuck the prime minister“.

This is massive.

Whereas we probably all know at least a few kids for whom “Fuck Bush” was practically a greeting, saying things like that over here doesn’t fly.

At all.

Not that you’ll go to jail or anything, but had Seeda tried to release this on a major label, or even a large indie, it woulda been censored or he would have been forced to remove the line. And that’s even considering that the word “fuck” isn’t even banned on the air (it is, after all, a foreign word) – it’s not uncommon to see people flipping each other off in children’s cartoons. But directly pointing out a particular political leader is not done – not even in hip-hop^3.5.

I’m sure someone will get on here and correct me, but I can’t think of a single incident in Japanese rap, period, that precedes this.

Second, dig the Obama reference, and the absolute trust put in what the dude is doing. Seeda’s basically saying he wishes he had somebody like Obama instead of Aso, and that Aso should start taking notes and quit lying to the people. Regardless of what your opinions are on either of the dudes, it stands to note here that, as I said, Japanese rap is simply not very political – at least not in the way that most from the US or the UK for example would consider “political” – and that the young generation showing anything other than absolute apathy towards society is kind of rare.

Immediately after the previously quoted line:

あれ自民党、これ民主党
シャッタファッかアップ I got bored on both
ファックリックロスなみにフェイクなボス
口先野郎に定めるスコープ
are jimintou, kore syumintou
syattafakkappu I got bored on both
fakku rikku rosu nami ni feiku na bosu
kutisaki yarou ni sadameru suko-pu
LDP⁴ this, Democratic Party that
Shut the fuck up, I’m bored of hearing about that
Fuck this dude, fake as Rick Ross
I line up these liars in my scope

Scope, as in sniper scope.

One thing you might notice is the “I got bored on both” line. Seeda’s known for talking an awful lot of English in his tracks – which isn’t really an uncommon phenomenon. I’ll talk about that some other time though, but I’ll say for now that I find a lot of it weird.

And, for those familiar with Rick “I-rap-about-selling-large-amounts-of-coke-but-really-I-used-to-be-a-cop” Ross, the comparison of a political leader to a “fake” like that should probably come across pretty clearly. And the sniper scope metaphor. Anything that even suggests violence – even in the abstract – is not something to be aimed at government officials out here. Can’t stress that enough.

Last selection.

どうなんだ?って聴いてんだ　ただ
どうなった？って聴いてんだ　はらー

俺がDISるヤツ
俺がDISるもの
俺がDISるbeef
hateだけじゃねえ

９条捨てる
医療を変える
倫理を捨てる
スタイルを捨てる
俺の読んだ教科書、ゴミになる？
どんな基準で国民を守る？
自分の子と思えなきゃ何が政治家
値打ちもねえゴシップ政治が
何もあおっちゃいない
俺は意見をここに記したい

dou nanda? tte kiiten da tada
dou natta? tte kiiten da hara-
ore ga disuru yatu
ore ga disuru mono
ore ga disuru beef
heito dake ja nai
kyuujou wo suteru
iryou wo kaeru
rinri wo suteru
sutairu wo suteru
ore no yonda kyoukasyo gomi ni naru?
donna kijun de kokumin wo mamoru?
jibun no ko to omoenakya nani ga seijika
neuti mo nei gossippu seiji ga
nanimo aottyainai
ore ha iken wo koko ni sirusitai

What’s going on? I’m asking you
What happened? I’m just asking you, holla

The suckers I dis
The things I dis
The beef I dis ⁶
This isn’t just me hating

You throw away Article 9
You change Healthcare
You throw away your morals
You change the style*
What, is the textbook I read in school trash all of a sudden?
On what level are you protecting the people?
If you don’t think of the people as your children, what kind of politician are you?
Worthless-ass gossip government
I’m not trying to start anything
I want to scribe down my opinion here

And here, we actually get into some specific issues. Article 9 is basically the article of the Japanese constitution that prevents Japanese from ever having a military:

ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

Emphasis mine.

So, essentially, “throwing away Article 9″ means building an armed force with the intention of starting a war. And in Japan, this is actually prohibited by the constitution⁷. The text books you get as a kid in Japan teach you that war is a horrible, terrible mistake, and that Japan is forever a pacificist country. Seeda is accusing the government of breaking this promise, and lying.

The healthcare thing – I can’t say too much about this, but apparently the government is attempting to raise the prices of healthcare dramatically – as in like a lot – and that’s not going over well with some people. Contrary to popular belief, Japan has poor people too. Plenty of them.

The style thing – personally I read this as a double entendre on a rap level, but strictly in context, this seems more of a “everything was fine before you started trying to change things – the style we had before you came in was good” thing – possibly putting emphasis on the healthcare thing. You could call this conservative if you want.

So yeah, I’m getting hungry, so I’m going to wrap things up here.

断っておきますが、this is not intended as one of those articles that praises some artist for his or her bravery/makes them out to be more than they are/tries to set someone up as some sort of hero⁸ – and if it read like that, I apologize. Please attribute that to my ineptness as a writer.

But.

But.

I mean, come on. Distrust of the government bordering on paranoia, mixing of rap metaphors with political ones, outright slander, plus a kind of brilliant beat – this is a good rap song. A quite good one. Don’t respect Seeda for being some sort of deep political thinker, don’t respect him for starting some imaginary “movement” that only exists in somebody’s graduate thesis, respect him for making a dope rap song.

It’s also pretty interesting as a look at what is happening in the scene over here – musically, of course, but possibly even more so as a look at a small piece of the culture. This is a Japanese song, about Japan (and Japanese songs), written by a Japanese person for a Japanese audience. And like I said in episode 117, if you want to get what’s actually going on, it’s important to listen to the conversations people are having within the community.

Not whatever trash that outsiders that don’t know anything anyway happen to be running their mouths about.

cough cough.
—-

[1] I mean, seriously. I’ve been out here for like a year and some change and said very very little about the music here. Sorry about that.
[2] A good portion of American hip-hop is also not very good.
[2.5] That is to say, if you were born in Japan and don’t speak English, then I can understand if you prefer to listen to music that you understand. But if you’re some sort of bootleg orientalist Pocky-munching yellow fever Japan anime fanboy/girl that professes love of anything from Japan just because it’s from Japan and mean to tell me that, oh, I don’t know, Rip Slyme is better than Kanye, or that King Ghiddra is better than Wu Tang, then you are clinically insane and need to have your head examined and get on a twelve step program immediately. Also you have no musical taste. Sorry. That said, though, there are plenty of Japanese rappers who I prefer – easily – to a lot of US rappers.
[β(sorry, thought of this in the middle and didn’t wanna renumber)] Note that he doesn’t say “ラップ” really, but “rap”, in English. If he said it in Japanese, it would break the rhyme pattern. Just something for the rhyme heads, I guess.
[3] He even takes a line that Aso is known for saying – “I won’t budge” (as in, I’ve made the correct decision and am not changing my mind) – and flipped it on its head.
[3.5] Not necessarily because it’s illegal or anything, but just because it’s considered “uninteresting”. There isn’t a large (perceived) market for “overly” political rap.
[4] LDP, the Liberal Democrat Party
[5] Not all of it is understandable though.
[6] I’ve no confidence in this translation at all.
[7] You could argue that Japan already has plenty of “war potential” – hello, SDF.
[8] Actually, I think anyone who expects too much of a man hollering into a microphone over some drums coming out of a box needs to get they head checked.