The Life and Legacy of Rapper- Activist ECD (1960-2018)
Volume 16 | Issue 6 | Number 3 | Article ID 5125 | Mar 15, 2018 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus “It's Our Turn to Be Heard”: The Life and Legacy of Rapper- Activist ECD (1960-2018) Noriko Manabe Abstract Part II portrays his role in Japanese social movements of this century. History tends to memorialize the stars and leaders, yet both musical and social movements are also made possible by people who work in the background, organize, seed trends, and Keywords: Japan, ECD, rap, hip-hop, protest, otherwise help make things happen. The social movements, sound demo, antinuclear Japanese rap pioneer and activist ECD, who movement, SEALDs, CRAC (Shibaki-tai), passed away on January 24, 2018, was neither protests against Abe's policies the earliest nor most commercially successful rapper, and he would have eschewed calling himself a leader of any protest group. Nonetheless, he was what Gramsci would have ECDはきっと有名になる人 called an organic intellectual of the working class. The frankness of his music, writing, and その時君だけ自慢できる人 performances touched his audiences at an affective level, connecting them to the 皆に自慢できる今日会えたこと movements in which he participated. This article looks back at his life, which embodied 皆に自慢できる今日聞いたこと the worlds of hip-hop, contentious politics, and そいつは約束するよ君だけに the working class. It also examines his songs, which not only convey a vivid account of his 教えてあげる 誰も知らない life, but also reflect his personal and political concerns as well as the ambience of street 教えてあげる 僕の名前 protests. ECD was a key figure in the development of the underground hip-hop scene, ECD will surely become famous organizing events that allowed it to take root and be lifted into commercial viability.
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