| If you live in Japan you can see it almost everyday. Young men wearing baseball caps sideways, basketball jersies, and Timberlands. Young women on Friday nights looking like miniature versions of J'Lo and Beyonce. The Hip-Hop trend in Japan has been going strong since the late 90s and affecting everything from fashion to hairstyles, but it all started with the music. It has acutally been around longer than that. While R&B was still trying to find it's place in the J-Pop market., Hip-Hop was going strong in the underground music scene. As far back as the late 80s to early 90s, Japanese kids were bopping to Run DMC, A Tribe Called Quest, and Wu Tang Clan. Admiration ineveitably leads to imitation which then leads to creativity. By the mid-90s Hip-Hop influenced Japanese musicians were making their own brand of music. This included R&B hits from young stars like Utada Hikaru and Misia. However, in 1999 J-Hip Hop had it's biggest break with the mega hit single "Grateful Days" by Dragon Ash. Since then J-Hip Hop/R&B has built it's own place within the J-Pop market and it looks like it's here to stay. The following list of artists are well known in the music scene now, but it also contains a few newcomers as well. Enjoy! Jazzman |
Akira AI Chemistry Crystal Kay DJ Hasabe Dabo Double *Dragon Ash East End Gospellers Heartsdales Hi-D Hirai Ken *K Dub Shine KetsuMeishi Kick the Can Crew King Gidorah Kosunagi Yuki LISA |
| J-Hip Hop/R&B |
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