From the soundtrack of Japanese film All about Lily Chou-Chou. Here is the first track, Arabesque, which is also played at the very first beginning of movie in the beautiful rice-field scene. The lyric is written in Okinawan which is absolutely soothing and serene. I highly recommend you to watch the movie depicting morphed darkness of Japanese youth with internet-pop cult, ijime and enjo kosai. The film was directed by Shunji Iwai and available on Netflix.
Freestyle rapper Huckleberry P showed his elaborate skill through HipHopplaya.com. Huckleberry P also released an album [PISH!] with Soul Fish under the name of Pinodyne this July.
Korean Hip Hop duo, Supreme Team made their mainstream debut on July 9th through M!Countdown. The performance was somewhat disappointing for me. I expected more lines with dope flow and rhymes of E-Sens and Simon D but the actual song sounded like another K-Pop tune. So far I haven't listened to their whole album so I cannot make further comment about their album yet their mainstream debut could not meet my anticipation.
Korean Hip Hop duo, Kim Combie recently announced that they disbanded. Its members, Kim Jot Ki and Kim Pok Ddal released diss tracks against each other.
In 2008, Kim Jot Ki and Kim Pok Ddal formed online community of outcasts in their high school called 'Hoppaclass'(parodying Korean Hip Hop crew Overclass). Later, Kim Jot Ki and Kim Pok Ddal left Hoppaclass as Kim Combie. They found label called 'BBK Saunds'. They use 'Voiceware', a computer program which converts text data into human voice, instead of their real voice. They gained fame among listeners and some even tried to imitate their Voiceware rap. At the same time, they had to face the harsh criticism questioning the sincerity of their music.
Personally, I enjoy their humourous lyrics (unfortunately it is almost impossible to translate them to English) which reflects Korean internet culture really well.
De De Mouse De De Mouse, Japanese electronic musician has recently caught my ears. He started performing in 2005 and released his first album, Tide of Stars in 2007. Since then he has expanded his musical scope and worked with other artists. He was in charge for music of Japanese designer, Suzuki Takayuki's 2008 s/s collection. In 2008, he released Sunset Girls which sounds like a combination of "solace" and "thrill" according to his official website.
Japanese underground Hip Hop group, 呪煙a.k.a JUGEM consists of three rappers, TAK THE CODONA, 894, DELMONTE. Their first album "Yattuke Colosseum" was released in April 15th this year. Even if you don't understand the language, the producing of tracks is elaborate and well done. I recommand the track called 捕助輪(Hojyorin).
