Seba Jun, aka
Nujabes, was a quiet and rather reclusive Japanese hip-hop DJ/producer/label head, as far as hip-hop personalities go. He didn't do many interviews, and his
two albums and
15 or so vinyl singles which were released on his own
Hydeout Productions label, all of which were only released in Japan. Regardless of the limited push, he gained renown world-wide for his relaxed, jazzy hip-hop, due in part to his music being featured on the anime series
Samurai Champloo. The musician's life was
cut short in late February, following a car accident. He was 36 years old.
Hydeout Productions is a young label, with the first tracks being released in 2001. Along with Seba Jun's own productions, the label has presented UK rapper
Funky DL, Japanese musicians
Uyama Hiroto,
MINMI,
Shing02, and US artists
CYNE,
Apani B,
Five Deez,
Substantial,
Pase Rock and
CL Smooth. Though largely vinyl-based, the label released a few albums starting in 2005 or so, and
two collections of tracks previously limited to vinyl. Nujabes has also released a CD of inspirations for his album Modal Soul, entitled
Modal Soul Classics. In this same vein, the artist Alys made a mix of tracks Nujabes sampled, entitled
Modal Source.
The music of Nujabes and other hip-hop artists played a major role in the anime series Samurai Champloo, which is set in a world
full of anachronisms, blending elements of hip-hop culture into
Edo period Japan. The mash-up of styles is similar to director
Shinichirō Watanabe's prior series,
Cowboy Bebop (
prev), though the earlier series blended space travel, westerns and 1940s-60s jazz. The hip-hop/samurai blend of Samurai Champloo ran for 26 episode, and the series premiered in Japan on May 20, 2004, and an English dub of the series premiered in the United States on the Adult Swim anime block on May 14, 2005. Since then, the series has also aired in the United Kingdom, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Germany. You can catch it
streaming online, available both subbed and dubbed. Every episode
opened with "Battlecry", an edited version of
the track by Nujabes and Shing02. The music for the show by Nujabes and others was collected in four CDs (
Impression,
Playlist,
Masta and
Departure) for release in Japan, and boiled down to
one CD for the US.
Besides these works, Nujabes made at least three mixtapes:
Sweet Sticky Things, for the fans of slower love songs (YT split: Side A parts
1b,
2, 3 (missing),
4 and
5; Side B parts
1,
2 (muted),
3,
4 and
5)
the Ristorante Nujabes Mixtape (YT Split: Side A parts
1,
2,
3,
4 and
5; Side B parts
1,
2,
3,
4 and
5), and
Hyde Out Sound Lab mixtape with
DJ RYOW (of
ShinSight Trio).
Following the passing of Seba Jun,
Pase Rock,
Shing02,
and others (
Google translation) left kind parting words, some reflecting on a similar loss in the hip-hop world with the death of
James Dewitt Yancey, aka
J Dilla,
four years earlier.
A few tributes and mixes:
*
Shing02 & DJ Top Bill - "Luv(sic)" & "Luv(sic) pt.2" live, which is an edited version of
footage from the Geshi Fest 2005
*
Nujabes and Shing02 - "Luv(sic) pt. 3 [extended]" (still pictures with lyrics in the notes)
*
Tribute mini-mix: live intro to Nujabes, and the tracks Reflection Eternal, Voice of Autumn, Worlds End Rhapsody, and Horizon
*
Tribute medley, played on keyboard and drums, covering Feather, Reflection Eternal, and Counting Stars, then into one of their own pieces
Original sample sources and the Nujabes tracks (more listed in
this forum thread):
*
Luiz Bonfa - The Shade of the Mango Tree, sampled and altered for
Nujabes ft. Cise Starr - Lady Brown
*
Ivan Lins - Qualquer Dia , source of
Nujabes ft. Shing02 - Luv(Sic) Pt.2
*
Ahmad Jamal - Spartacus love theme, sampled for
Nujabes feat. Substantial - Eclipse
*
(cover of) John Hicks - After The Morning, sampled in
Nujabes - Flowers
*
Ayur - I Miss You, sampled in
Nujabes - Reflection Eternal (video)
*
Quadraphonics - Betcha If You Check It Out , sampled in
Nujabes - Worlds End Rhapsody
posted by Jimmy Havok at 8:33 PM on April 3, 2010