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Representing Japan: ‘national’ style among Japanese hip-hop DJs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2013

Noriko Manabe
Noriko Manabe*
Affiliation:
Department of Music, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA E-mail: nmanabe@gmail.com
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Abstract

Based on ethnographic interviews, this paper examines how Japanese hip-hop DJs distinguish themselves in the global marketplace in ways that reflect on Japan's two self-images: its impenetrable uniqueness and its adeptness at assimilating other cultures (cf. Ivy, Iwabuchi). Following the autoexoticist strategies of Takemitsu and Akiyoshi, DJ Krush and Shing02 draw on Japanese uniqueness by integrating Japanese instruments (e.g. shakuhachi, shamisen, taiko), genres (biwa narrative), and aesthetics (ma, imperfection) into their works; Evis Beats takes a more parodic approach. At the DMC World Championships, Japanese DJs including DJ Kentarō have competed on the basis of eclecticism and originality in assimilating multiple sound sources. While countering the stereotype of the Japanese as imitators, this emphasis on originality may place some contestants too far from prevailing trends, putting them at a disadvantage. Both strategies imply that Japanese artists experience anxieties regarding their authenticity, necessitating strategies to differentiate themselves.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 32 , Issue 1: East Asian popular music and its (dis)contents , January 2013 , pp. 35 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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Discography

Amida (Evis Beats), Amida. 2008Google Scholar
DJ Krush, Meiso. Mo'Wax, MW039CD. 1995Google Scholar
DJ Krush, Kakusei. Sony Japan, AICT25. 1998Google Scholar
DJ Krush, Zen. Sony Japan, SRCL 4995. 2001Google Scholar
DJ Krush, Jaku. Sony Music Works, COL5175782. 2004Google Scholar
DMC Presents: 2002 DMC World DJ Championship Video. DMC Records, VWF02. 2002Google Scholar
Infumiai Kumiai, Jangaru. P-Vine, PCD-5852. 2003Google Scholar
Shing02, Waikyoku. Mary Joy Recordings, IDCM 1045. 2008Google Scholar

Selected interviews

DJ Co-ma and DJ Izoh, December 2008Google Scholar
DJ Kentarō, December 2008Google Scholar
DJ Krush, June 2008, September 2009, October 2010, March 2011Google Scholar
DJ Ono, January 2009Google Scholar
DJ Shiftee, September 2010, November 2010Google Scholar
Evis Beats, January 2009Google Scholar
Infumiai Kumiai, April 2008Google Scholar
Pete Rock, May 2008Google Scholar
Shing02, June 2008, September 2008Google Scholar

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