 "Photo: James Heck/ The Advocate")
The experience is like no other.
Ambient bass tones continuously humming as if emanating from below the earth, brief piano melodies chiming in and out, flutes resonating through an abstract plane of sound.
Bossa nova guitars seamlessly weave into the marriage of jazz samples and synthesizer effects.
Every element stands out, yet it all blends seamlessly into an approachable composition of extricated sounds.
This is the accent of Japanese hip-hop artist Seba Jun, most known by his artist moniker Nujabes.
Jun was the owner of Tribe Records and Guinness Records in Udagawa, Shibuya, both popular record stores as well as centers of Japanese hip-hop culture.
Unlike American hip-hop, Japan’s urban sub-culture is not greatly influenced by the difficulties of life in inner-city ghettos. Japanese artists tend to draw more of their influences from humor, poetry and nature.
This is reflected in Nujabes’ first release in 1999, “People Don’t Stray,” from his independent record label Hydeout Productions.
The single effectively blends repeated piano and saxophone samples with record scratching from Monorisick (DJ Deckstream).
Lyrics provided by English rapper Funky DL complement the rhythm, without distracting from the instrumentation.
Nujabes continued to release singles and remixes until his first album, “Metaphorical Music,” was released in 2003 by Shibuya-based studio Dimid Recordings.
This album represents the perfect summarization of Nujabes’ sound.
Characterized by cool jazz influences, due to his use of Miles Davis and Yusef Lateef samples in the songs “Horn in the Middle” and “The Final View,” the album is driving yet serene.
Nujabes’ mixing is seamless, blending elements so closely that the depth of each track is masked.
Only after several attentive listens can his songs be thoroughly appreciated. Yet, the listening process is not laborious.
The beats are never challenging, as each song passes through time effortlessly, waiting patiently for the listener, but never idle.
Despite his exceptional style as a producer, Nujabes’ audience is limited to those in the independent Japanese hip-hop social scene and record store wanderers who stumble upon his music.
In 2006, late-night Cartoon Network programming block Adult Swim began to air the second series from acclaimed anime director and screenwriter Shinichiro Watanabe.
Known for his directorial debut “Cowboy Bebop,” Watanabe had built a reputation for combing normally disassociated themes and creating animated features that stand out for their originality.
His second series, “Samurai Champloo” blends the historically based Chanbara genre of samurai films with modern hip-hop culture and rhythm.
The unlikely combination of Edo-period feudal Japan with percussion-centric rhythms and newer art forms of graffiti and breakdancing creates a surprisingly cohesive art style.
In the world of “Samurai Champloo,” tense, focused sword duels are offset by the spontaneity of record-scratching, chase scenes are narrated by double-bass infused instrumentals, traditional Japanese music is as common as rap and graffiti coexists with ukiyo-e painting.
The show’s introduction to American broadcast in 2006 set the trend of the hip-hop samurai genre of anime. Only two years later, the series “Afro-Samurai” was released, featuring music from RZA and voice work from Samuel L Jackson.
Though “Samurai Champloo” did not just introduce viewers to the hip-hop samurai genre, it also served as a segue to the underexposed world of Nujabes’ production.
The first time I heard Nujabes’ work in the song “Battlecry,” I was hooked.
Visual representation of stylized samurai action coupled by tracks with groups of low-pitch drum patterns, abstracted flutes and reactive piano melodies blew my mind (as an easily impressionable 14-year-old).
And the closing song “Shiki No Uta” is what closed the deal for me.
The rhythm and blues piece features looping bass samples unlike hip-hop songs heard in the U.S. Softened bass guitar samples and piano melodies seem foreign in comparison to jazz-influenced hip-hop in America.
Since that first listen, I haven’t gone more than a month in the past four years without returning to Nujabes’ music.
I soon discovered that I was far from alone.
Since his first album dropped, Nujabes has gained notoriety among bloggers, music junkies and underground hip-hop scenesters alike.
Despite having such a comprehensive position in the underground hip-hop scene, he lived an extremely private life.
Unfortunately, Jun died at the age of 36 in a car crash coming out of the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo during the Feb. 26 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan.
And though he may not live to produce more music, his production company, Hydeout, will make available his unreleased songs sometime in the near future.
His style is carried on by ambient producers such as Nomak, MICHITA and DJ Nozawa. As an artist, Nujabes leaves a legacy that made a uniquely Japanese sound that communicated messages beyond verbal comprehension.
Though the artist may no longer live to create, his music will continue to connect to listeners.
Contact James Heck at jheck.advocate@gmail.com
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