Tag - rap

 
 

RAP

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
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 19, 2023
Las Vegas police search home in Tupac murder case
The best-selling hip-hop artist behind hits such as 'California Love' was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of just 25, and his killers have never been caught.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Sep 27, 2022
Street poet turns to words to help cure ills of abusive religious upbringing
The issue of children suffering at the hands of over-zealous religious parents tends to be glossed over by Japanese society as a private problem.
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 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
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2020
Okinawan rapper Awich rejects your constructs
As a young girl, Awich would sit in awe at her father's tales of war on Okinawa. Little did she know it would inspire her to tell her own tales as a successful rapper.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2020
Chelmico breezes through 2020 with optimistic music for somber times
The rap duo's upbeat new album, “Maze,” kicks off with a topsy-turvy track that's the opening theme of a popular anime and has inspired a dance meme.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2020
How much is an album worth in 2020? Not all vinyl is created equal
It depends on the business model, but artists are doubling down on the value of their music and what it means to fans
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2020
South Korea-born rapper Moment Joon details immigrant experience in Japan on debut album
On his formidable debut album, “Passport & Garcon,” South Korea-born rapper Moment Joon lays claim to his present home in suburban Osaka with unusual specificity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2020
Taigen Kawabe's Ill Japonia: Allowing yourself to learn from the new wave
Bo Ningen's Taigen Kawabe drops the guitars and starts rapping on his first release as III Japonia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 19, 2020
Growing up in poverty and broken homes, Kawasaki youths find savior in rap
Weathered signs from five years ago stand forlornly on a bank of the Tama River in Kawasaki, politely asking visitors to refrain from laying any more flowers of condolence so they don't accidentally catch fire.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2019
Two injured as gunmen ambush French rapper Booba's video shoot
At least two people were injured after gunmen ambushed a video shoot involving French rapper Booba, authorities said on Wednesday, in the latest incidence of violence marring the suburbs of Paris.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 3, 2019
Rapper Nipsey Hussle killed over dispute with suspect: LA police
Los Angeles police on Tuesday said the man named as a suspect in the fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle allegedly killed him two days ago over a personal dispute that was not gang-related.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 8, 2019
Rapper Chanmina is blurring the lines of genre and nationality
Everyone has moments where they have to choose between two paths that will lead to drastically different lives. For Mina Otomonai, it came during her second year of high school when she strongly considered moving to South Korea to pursue a career in music. Her friends convinced her to stay in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2017
Zombie-Chang's 'Gang!' reveals an unexpected new side
Chaos breeds a lot of surprises but the biggest shock coming out of genre-blending artist Zombie-Chang's latest album, "Gang!", is the flashes where she sounds like someone capable of being a mainstream pop performer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2016
Bureaucrat's rap video pitching Akita city goes viral
An elite central government bureaucrat on loan to the municipal government of Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture, is generating a buzz by appearing in the city's PR video dressed like a rapper.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 20, 2015
The verse that launched Kohh's rise into rap stardom
One of the country's fastest rising hip-hop artists just might be on his way to becoming the first internationally recognized rap star Japan has produced.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2015
Gangsta-lite Compton is ready for its close-up
It can be a letdown when LA Hood Life & Hip Hop Tours customers pass the Welcome to Compton sign and see an ice cream truck, tidy bungalows and the lot where the new Wal-Mart Supercenter's going up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 26, 2015
OMSB counts his blessings on 'Think Good'
Rapper and producer Brandon Katou (aka OMSB) is an artist that, while humble, exhibits a sense of pride in his work atypical of Japanese artists. In recent interviews he's done for his new album, he's compared himself to big-name acts like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West, remarking that his work is up to par with theirs.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores