Track 7 J-pop fun
Here's track 7 Been So Long by M-flo
At one point my high school became a breeding ground for J-pop "idols." Why? I dunno. Whatver the reasons, beginning with Hayami Yu, leading in to Nishida Hikaru and peaking with Lisa Nishi of M-flo and Utada Hikaru ASIJ alums have been doing their thing in Japanese show-biz.
While Hayami and Nishida had respectable "idoru" careers, M-flo and Utada took over and completely dominated the J-pop scene by re-mixing R&B/hip-hop beats with that 81.3 FM J-wave sound. For the music freaks (attn: Wily Filipino), the J-wave sound is embodied by Mondo Grosso, Monday Michiru, Dreams Come True and Bird.
They were also lyrical pioneers. Until M-flo, J-pop was mostly nonsensicaly English words tossed into Japanese ballads. M-flo took it to another level and sang and rapped in the hybrid "chanpon" form of English-Japanese spoken by all the international school kids in Tokyo. It was a mindblowing experience to hear what was formerly such an exclusive language now all over the radio. CLASSIC lines like "I get around like sushi on a kaiten (rotating sushi)" and "I ate too many MCs I got konaen (cold sores)."
Enjoy.