Urban Beats, Japan Style

Some people know that I dig Japanese music in addition to Western or local Philippine acts. The first Japanese digital music file I had was the opening theme for Borutesu Faibu-ni. Don't know what that means? ^^ Think Brod Pete. lol

From there, into anime op's and ed's and eventually transcended into specific artists like Maaya Sakamoto, Masami Okui and Ayumi Hamasaki. With the exception of Maaya-kun, my auditory senses tuned themselves into a new direction : J-Urban.

After hearing m-flo's (m-flo is Verbal as MC and Taku Takahashi as DJ) collaboration track with melody. (yes, small caps with a period) and Ryohei, "miss you", it was all downhill from there. m-flo is probably the center of the J-Urban movement. They say Orange Range is the most successful proponent of J-Urban, but imho, their style really doesn't intersect with the pop / hiphop / r&b mix that is the present in the music genre's artists.

With Verbal going westside as part of the Teriyaki Boyz to collaborate the soundtrack for the film, Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift and with a recent team-up between Teriyaki Boyz with Kanye West, J-Urban should get the world's notice and the exposure it deserves. This may not seat well with other fans of the genre as some would argue for many reasons, one being, Verbal and m-flo has strayed too far from true J-Urban. I dunno, but I am a very big fan of m-flo (with LISA and during the m-flo loves collaborations).

And so people would point out, "you can barely understand Japanese!" I'd rather die than listen to another sappy Air Supply song on local radio station Love Radio. Bite Me. Besides, Philippine commercial FM radio died a horrible death years ago.

Anyway, if you're a fan of R&B and hip-hop - try the music from J-Urban luminaries m-flo, Soul'd Out, Crystal Kay, Kumi Koda, Namie Amuro and yes, BoA. Visit Wiki.ThePPN for a lowdown :)