Tag - hip-hop

 
Menu
Search
 
February 23, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

HIP HOP

“Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie” centers on groups of male rappers from neighborhoods around Tokyo and Japan at large.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025
‘Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie' lets viewers remix the narrative
Armed with LED-lined gloves and their smartphones, audiences take control of the action for Japan’s first interactive movie.
Recording artist Kendrick Lamar speaks at a press conference for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 9, 2025
Kendrick Lamar promises 'storytelling' at Super Bowl show
Speculation abounds as to whether the rapper will perform his award-winning diss track, "Not Like Us."
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
CULTURE / Music / 2024 in Review
Dec 27, 2024
Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024
Japanese music made waves globally, fueled by Coachella debuts, TikTok virality and unexpected hits like Creepy Nuts' "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born."
Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2017. Prosecutors have accused Combs of running a criminal enterprise to facilitate his exploitation of women, dating back at least 16 years.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 18, 2024
Sean 'Diddy' Combs pleads not guilty to sex trafficking; judge denies bail
Prosecutors said the rapper and producer used his fame to coerce women into demeaning sexual acts as part of a long-running scheme.
Flavor Flav is at the Paris Games as the hype man for the U.S. water polo team.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024
Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav relishes role as hype man for U.S. water polo team
The rapper is using his fame to help support the U.S. team.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024
Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?
The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024
Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get
With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2024
Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours
The two-day music festival showcases Japan's growing and diversifying hip-hop scene through local acts such as Awich and Jumadiba.
Kendrick Lamar has long been cast as the authentic and artistic representative of modern rap.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
May 10, 2024
Japanese MCs jump in on the Kendrick Lamar-Drake rap beef — and pick a favorite
The way artists here have joined the feud between two of rap's biggest names says more about hip-hop beefs in Japan than you realize.
The "style architect" for Jay-Z since 1994, June Ambrose sees influences of her work across the Japanese fashion landscape.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 1, 2024
June Ambrose: ‘Cultural appropriation is the best form of flattery’
Ambrose has been Jay-Z’s designated “style architect” since the billionaire started Roc-A-Fella Records back in 1994.
A breaker performs during the Red Bull BC One 2023 Camp Day and National Finals at the Fillmore in Philadelphia on Aug. 26
MORE SPORTS
Oct 12, 2023
Breakers grapple with hip-hop’s Olympic moment
B-boys and B-girls wonder if their art will translate into sport when breaking makes its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tupac Shakur
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2023
Suspect in rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 slaying charged with murder
The charges marked a breakthrough for a long-unsolved case that was a defining moment in the history of rap music.
Rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa perform during the Hip Hop 50 Live concert, marking the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop, at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 13, 2023
Hip-hop stars helm marathon birthday party
Thousands of people partied deep into the night Friday as part of an all-star Bronx bash celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, featuring trailblazers including Run-DMC, Nas, Lauryn Hill and Snoop Dogg.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 15, 2022
Rap takes over Super Bowl halftime, balancing celebration and protest
At Super Bowl LVI, rap finally got the spotlight . . . in perhaps the 20-somethingth year of hip-hop occupying the center of American pop music.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Sep 10, 2021
Hip-hop is getting a bad rap this summer
After footage of unmasked, crowded rap fans at a festival spread online, mainstream news outlets zeroed in on hip-hop itself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 9, 2021
How 88rising crafted an evocative soundtrack for Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’
The Asian arts collective worked closely with the director Destin Daniel Cretton to put its imprint on the anticipated movie.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 6, 2021
Ash Hudson: From outfitting hip-hop's icons to finding new inspiration in Japan
Albion 'Ash' Hudson's Conart streetwear brand defined the fashion of many rappers in the 1990s. His designs are now popping up on new acts such as Travis Scott and BTS.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 21, 2021
Rapper Daichi Yamamoto gets personal about breakups, his biracial background and a love of jazzy beats
Japanese rappers are beginning to share more about their own experiences in their tracks, an approach Daichi Yamamoto says is upping the standards for domestic hip-hop.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Nov 15, 2020
Upgrade your kids’ home dance parties with a class at Studio Tron
For dance-loving children, Studio Tron is the stuff of dreams, with feel-good pop, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and kind, professional teachers.
Japan's Prince Hisahito to hold first news conference on March 3
Prince Hisahito heads to greet the Emperor and Empress on the occasion of his 18th birthday in Tokyo on Sep. 6.
Special website created 30 years after Tokyo subway sarin attack
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, the Public Security Intelligence Agency launched a special website Friday.
LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
Japanese nationals returned from Myanmar as scam probe continues
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were allegedly trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand on Feb. 12 amid a mounting crackdown on scam centers operating along a porous border, queue to get food at a shelter in Tak province, Thailand, on Wednesday.
Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high
Challenging spirit and teamwork keep ANA flying high

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER