Oh look, I talk about music as well. Japanese rap for the most part. You know I always wondered why US rap albums released in Japan would have a Japan-only bonus track, for a land with a rap fanbase of 7 people it's kind of a hassle to record a whole new track for someone who isn't even buy your shit.
So I started wondering if Japan makes Hip-Hop on their own. Well apparently they do, it's small sub-culture, and by small I mean barely-existing, and I'm talking about the fans really. Because after doing some research online, I'm shocked to find that the amount of Hip-Hop music from Japanese artists are almost the same as American artists. There are hundreds of albums released each year and hundreds of mixtapes (yeah, they got that too), but the sales for the most part are pathetically low. Most Japanese people don't care for Hip-Hop, don't know about these people, and probably doesn't even know that the music exists.
Anyways, let's talk about Ryuzo's second album Document. And judging by how hard he's posing in the cover, this guy has to be a true gangster, there's no other way. Because you know, that's what Japanese people do, the peace sign is officially played out, it's about badanas across the face now, you haven't heard?
Oh, and here's one more interesting thing about Japanese rap that's a bit different from US rap. With the Hip-Hop in the US, the first album by any artist is usually regarded to be their best (Nas, Jay, Black Moon, Bahamadia, Dre, Eminem, Pharoah Monch etc..), and then they start falling into rap hell after that. This is where Japan is different, usually the first album by the artists are their worst output, barely listenable cliched synthified junk, and then by some miraculous musical enlightenment, their second album and everything after that becomes the holy grail. They start working with American rappers, American producers, they study how to write a rap song, and they start doing it seriously. This is the case with Ryuzo. His sophomore album Document just devours his first album, which I don't even remember the name anymore. Not only that, Document is one of the best produced albums I've heard in a while, and I wouldn't be surprised if all these producers are American dudes.
1. B-Document (Prod. Lucha) - Ok, this song samples one of X-Japan's tracks, you know the really famous one with that haunting piano at the beginning, forgot what it's called. It's been done before a bunch of times, but this song is the best rendition I've heard so far. First you hear the piano, and then storming violin strings, and then the deadly vocal sample just takes over. Three layers of samples just trying to compete with each other. This beat is just powerful, perfect, violent, and Ryuzo's voice just gets blended inside this tornado. What a fucking awesome opener. 5/5
2. Dopest Brother's Back (Prod. DJ Kensaw) - This beat is maybe even better than the opener. DJ Kensaw provides us with a brilliant beat that contains a sample of some obscure Italian opera I assume and he just kills it. And the violin strings, is just ridiculous, I love the way it creeps up to the top before dying out. Ryuzo doesn't have to do much since the beat is so good, but he actually flows pretty well and does a good job. - 4.5/5
3. The MC (Prod. Buzzer Beats) - This song was also in the movie Ninja Assassin, which I don't ever plan to watch, but just to let you know it's the same exact song. And yes, Ryuzo is the rapper that was featured in that movie. Anyways, this sample has been done on one of Casual's albums, but Ryuzo's version came out at least 3 years before that. But I'm sure I've heard it elsewhere as well, can't put my finger on it, it's a familiar sample, not a bad song, but doesn't pack the uppercut the first 2 songs had. - 4/5
4. My Life ft. Noshaya Morgan (Prod. Blast Off Productions) - Who doesn't love Spanish guitars? Because I do, everyone does, gets people groovy. Anyways, Blast Off Production is my favorite group of Japanese producers, they make straight heat after heat. I'm thinking these guys are American, I'm not sure, but if they're American and they only work with Japanese rappers, are they then considered Japanese producers? Yeah that's kind of confusing to think about. So, Ryuzo actually carries out some rapping here, Noshaya Morgan provides a decent hook, it's a good song but I always skip it for some reason. - 4/5
5. Rush Hour ft. Ruff Neck and La Bono (Prod. Blast Off Productions) - Well, I have to simmer down on the enthusiasm I have towards Blast Off Productions because this beat is one of their worst, if not their absolute worst. It's fast-paced, low-synthed G-Unit type of track where the beat is trying to make you drive at 100 mph as if you're in a car chase. Sounds nice on paper, but seriously this beat is extremely generic, it sounds like a G-Unit throwaway. Anarchy is on this song, so that makes it a bit tolerable. 2.5/5
6. No Way Out ft. Deli (Prod. Blast Off Productions) - And it's as if Rush Hour didn't exist, Blast Off Productions completely redeem themselves and gives us one of the their best beats ever. This right here is soul-devouring, when I first heard it I couldn't believe how good this beat is. It's funky, groovy, and has that right amount of grittiness that makes you think you're in either Tokyo or NY, it's that damn good. This is one song that should be savored every minute. 5/5
7. Get Ready to Rumble (Prod. B-Money) - And here we have B-Money, the American guy. He's one of my favorite Japanese producers as well. He has done beats for Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Mobb Deep on the US side but for the most part his loyalty is in Japan. His beats are definitely something to watch out for, they are just hard-hitting, hardcore hip-hop. This song again sounds a bit familiar, sounds like an updated version of "Mama will Knock You Out", and for once the beat doesn't completely outshine Ryuzo, as he holds his own here and delivers a good knock-out performance. 4/5
8. Where is the Love (Prod. Malik) - Malik is a Japanese producer, because you know Malik is such a famous Japanese name. You can ask my Japanese wife Sh'iane. Anyways this beat sounds like it was carried down from Heaven with angels. In other words, it's the best beat on the whole album, and even with the other great production on here, it doesn't touch this one. Sometimes a simple sample loop is good enough, and that's exactly what this beat is, Malik found the sample goldmine, this sample is so brilliant I can't even put it into words. It's also one of the best vocal samples I've ever heard. - 5/5
9. Muzikal Gangsta (Prod. B-Money) - Here is the second beat that B-Money contributes to the album and this is a bouncy, reggae inspired track with funky guitars plucking its way throughout. In other words, it's dope as hell. However, what brings this track down 1 star is the god-awful monkey you hear screaming on the hook, or human being or whatever that is. I was horrified when I first heard it, so it takes a bit away from an otherwise great song. 4/5
10. Fight Muzik (Prod. Knock-Eye) - This is the song I played about 10 times in a row when I first heard this album. For some reason I just jumped to this song because it's called Fight Muzik, it caught my eye, maybe I was just curious as to how a song like this would sound on a Japanese rap album. And Knock-Eye provides us with a oriental sample that is just out of this fucking world. I just wish the sample could be chopped up a little better because I want to hear more of it, it cuts off right when it was about to get good. And I'm conflicted on this track, the beat gets you hype and is really catchy, but I felt that this song could have been so much better if given to someone else other than Ryuzo, and if the beat was arranged better, that's what's frustrating about it. But overall, not bad, although Ryuzo is getting a bit annoying at this point because he does mention "power paper, respect, represent", which are just really cliche, oh and there's "concrete jungle survive"....come on. 4/5
11. So Fly ft. La-Bono, D-Roc (Prod. Bach Logic) - This songs features some guy named D-Roc, but is this the same D-Roc from Ying Yang Twins?? I have no clue, because the intro and the hook has an American rapper on it, and he only does the hook, so he doesn't say much. And both Ryuzo and D-Roc rips this track apart, maybe it's because the beat isn't really that good. It's a keyboard beat that way below Bach-Logic standards, seriously Bach-Logic is one of the best Japanese producers and this one is underwhelming, but overall I still enjoyed this song. 3.5/5
12. Jump ft. Naughty, Young Bery (Prod. Bach Logic) - So it seems now that Bach Logic gave Ryuzo his worst crap and gave his best stuff to Seeda, AKLO and Simon. This song right here is absolute filler material, it sounds like a really bad rock song that should have been on those crappy racing video games that they release in Japan 4 times every month. Ughhh...... 1/5
13. Street Dreams ft. D-Roc (Prod. Lucha) - Well, I certainly didn't expect this to be a remake of Nas' "Street Dreams", so that automatically makes this song pure crap, because there's no way it can live up to the original. But first of all it's a relief that D-Roc is not that dude from Ying Yang Twins, you hear him speak Japanese now and he's probably a Japanese-American or something. The lyrics are ok I guess, Ryuzo talks about Koreans living in Japan and the streets, so he does touch on some stuff. But really, this song sucks because the beat is just total garbage, I really enjoyed the hook which sounds even better than the original Street Dreams, but that's about it. If the entire track was just D-Roc singing than it would have been at least decent. 1.5/5
14. It's My Town Ft. Anarchy (Prod. Blast Off Productions) - Blast Off Production comes to the rescue again and rights the ship from veering completely off-course. The minute the song starts you know it's gonna be a banger. The soul/rock sample is just amazing, and I think I should be ashamed of myself for not knowing what it is, it's one of those classic oldies that you just should know, but I tried to find it on the internet and nothing came up. But yeah we get a great beat here, striking violins and a dramatic tune. And then there's Anarchy, who shows us that he is clearly the superior one to Ryuzo, but for the most part Ryuzo doesn't put up a bad fight, he's just not as good as Anarchy. 5/5
15. My People My Hero (Prod. Yakko) - Yakko is a guy from a Japanese rap group Aquarius, which an extremely annoying and unintelligent bunch who likes to scream and wild out, so consider me surprised when I found out he made this beat, which sounds almost nothing like the music they do. This song right here just screams "hip-hop", it has a very mellow but commanding tune, and it sounds like something from Nas' third album I Am, which is great. Probably my favorite song on the whole album. Ryuzo shines on here as well, as we see a more "gentle" side of him. 4/5
You realize that I don't mention Ryuzo much, well that's because the production on here is so good that they completely outshine him on so many tracks. It doesn't matter who's rapping behind those beats, but I have to say Ryuzo doesn't suck completely, he's just forgettable. He rarely changes up his flow, he has a gruff voice that makes it sound like he's screaming at the top of his lungs even though he's not, so it can annoying by the time you reach half-point. One thing I commend Ryuzo for is that he has a great ear for beats and how well they flow together in the concept of an album, I wish someone Eminem or Nas could have an ear for beats like this guy. And this is not only restricted to this album per se, the next 2 Ryuzo albums also follow a similar formula where the beats take center-stage and Ryuzo is somewhere in the back fiddling with the curtains. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get started in Japanese Hip-Hop, some of the production on here sounds as good as anything from the States. Yes I know a lot of producers on here are American but they all bring their A-game, that's what's important, the quality of music, and here we get our money's worth of bangers.
Best song: Where is the Love
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