|
Hitting the Spot
Japanese producer and DJ Grooveman
Spot hits our clubs this month. His English may not be the best,
but his unique sound and style aren't likely to get lost in translation.
By Martyn Pepperell
On 'Time Is Of The Essence'
off his debut album Eternal Development, far eastern beat
architect Grooveman Spot (aka DJ Kou-G) channels the essence
of early '90s NYC boom bap. More than that, he flips it through
a distinctly Japanese soul n beats filter, marking it as the
work of a musician who has just, in his own words, "become
borderless, musically."
Juxtaposing kick/snare rap drums
with wistful higher register piano samples and lyrics from Grap
Luva, 'Time Is Of The Essence' is essentially a contemporary
take on a classic sound. One which proves once again that the
Five Boroughs exist not just as physical locations, but as mental
locations as well, within the hearts and minds of the hip hop
faithful, from the East Coast of America to Sendai in Japan.
As Kou-G explains via email in
his limited English, "I'm from Sendai City, where Mitsu
The Beats and DJ Kentaro used to live. And I'm living in Tokyo
now." A long-time hip hop, soul and r&b enthusiast,
Kou-G caught the music bug as a teenager, initially through dance
after watching the likes of MC Hammer and Heavy D. Next came
crate-digging. He explains, "I went to Tower Records in
my hood every week and kept digging for rap, hip hop and soul
CDs there."
Citing some of his early musical
heroes as "Bobby Brown, Public Enemy, Michael Jackson [and]
Teddy Riley," Kou-G also looked up to Japanese artists DJ
Muro, DJ Watarai and Rhymester. At age 15 he realised he wanted
to become a DJ after listening to bootleg mixtapes of Funkmaster
Flex's NYC radio shows. He dived in headfirst and hasn't looked
back since, forming notorious Japanese hip hop duo ENBULL with
MC U-Zipplain in 1996 and quickly progressing into sampler driven
beat production after falling in love with the music of classic
East Coasters Gangstarr and D.I.T.C.
He elaborates, "It was so natural to make beats when I started
DJing. When I was 18, I made a loop with a Bob James sample on
an Audio Technica disco mixer. It has a cheap sampler which can
sample only two seconds. I added a drum break by double trick
on that loop I made, and recorded that. Then I started to investigate
beat science from DJ Premier and Pete Rock. I was a quick learner
for that and bought a MPC 2000, made beats everyday and
let my partner MC U-Zipplain from ENBULL listen to my beats and
record raps on my beats."
Aside from his work with ENBULL and as a solo artist under the
Grooveman Spot moniker, Kou-G is affiliated with lazzy Sport,
a world renowned boutique record store and music label located
in Shibuya, Tokyo - the label on which he released Eternal
Development in 2007. "We been friends since before
they established Jazzy Sport," he writes. "I think
every crew member understands good music and digs good music.
I was hooked up by Raythought (MC, shop manager) as an official
member of Jazzy Sport. Now I'm working on the production side
of things, and as a Jazzy Sport music shop assistant sometimes."
Late September, Kou-G is playing two shows in New Zealand under
his Grooveman Spot alias and is bringing a special friend along
for the ride - Kenji Sakajiri, the owner of Osaka based record
label Wonderful Noise, an internationally distributed imprint
which has recently become the Japanese home to New Zealand artists
Electric Wire Hustle, Julien Dyne and Pacific Heights. Japanese
beat music (for example: DJ Krush) has been on the New Zealand
musical radar for years now and finally this interest has metamorphosed
into a two-way street.
Soul n beats, future soul, wonky, instrumental hip hop - descriptive
terms get thrown around and come and go like the morning newspaper
within these interconnected musical worlds. And who would Kou-G
be if he didn't have his own definition to throw into the mix.
His final conclusion is, "my music is 'dope & funk',
rooted from hip hop."
See him live: Grooveman Spot
w/ Kenji Sakajiri
Fri 25 Sep - Toto's Bacco Room, Auckland w/ Electric Wire Hustle
& The Turnaround
Sat 26 Sep - Sandwiches, Wellington w/ Cian, The Jewel School
& Friday Night Flava
[top]
---
 << home
|
