Nujabes
un Seba, February 7, 1974 – February 26, 2010), In addition to giving us a incredible library of jazz born in the Nishi-Azabu district of Minato, cuts, I will always be grateful for Nujabes for some- was a Japanese record producer, DJ, composer thing else. If it weren’t for him, I would have never andJ arranger who recorded under the stage name heard of the hip-hop group CYNE, specifically Cise Nujabes. Nujabes was an anagram of his name, being Starr, who is in my top 10 emcees of all time. Nujabes the reverse spelling of Seba Jun. He was the owner worked with the likes of CL Smooth and Substantial, of two Shibuya record stores, T Records and Guin- but the songs he did with Cise Starr are a notch above ness Records, and founder of the independent label the rest. I’ll leave you with “Feather” (there is so much Hydeout Productions. His style mixes hip hop and emotion in this song), but I beg you, do some digging jazz samples. Nujabes collaborated with other Jap- on Nujabes, the dude was truly one of a kind and while anese artists such as Uyama Hiroto, Shing02 (with he might be gone, he already made a lifetime of power- whom he created the critically acclaimed “Luv(sic)” ful, wonderful music. hexalogy), Minmi, and was also involved with Amer- ica’s underground hip hop scene through collabo- ration with CYNE, Apani B, Five Deez, Substantial, CL Smooth, Fat Jon, and Terry Callier. In his career, he released three studio albums (Metaphorical Mu- sic in 2003, Modal Soul in 2005, and Spiritual State, released posthumously in 2011) and two collection compilations (Hydeout Productions 1st Collection in 2003 and 2nd Collection in 2007).[1] One of his most recognizable works is that of the background music for Shinichirō Watanabe’s series Samurai Champloo (Music Record: Departure and Impression) in 2004. The thing that makes Nujabes so unique, and be- loved by those that are familiar with him is the way he perfectly blends hip-hop and jazz to create an emotional, atmospheric sound; I think Tino said it “You make rap music, I best in the comments, “What Dilla was to soul sam- ple Nujabes was to Jazz samples.” What always blows make soul music,” me away is how layered and intricate Nujabes’ beats are. He draws from so many different elements and On February 26, 2010, Jun Seba died in a traffic laces them together effortlessly. You can listen to the accident.[2] Following his death, numerous tributes same song over and over and hear something different were made by other artists from around the world that you didn’t notice before. Still, while the beats are (including his own label Hydeout Productions). Even delicate and complex, it sounds so easy and simple. with a short career, Nujabes’ legacy still lives on, with Take “Peaceland” for example, there are so many little tributes albums by labelmates to a dedicated Reddit wrinkles that it really takes a few listens to grab ‘em all channel. and while the smooth horn section might be the base, there are so many more layers that make the song so effective.