Hip-hop commentators talk a lot about roots: about old school roots and neighborhood roots and ultimately roots in Africa. Though hip-hop has flourished in Japan, much of it is distinctly rootless, imitating the goofy antics of The Beastie Boys or the street-savvy poses of gangsta rappers.

Sapporo's Tha Blue Herb are in a different tradition entirely. MC Ill Bosstino and his partner DJ Ono have created music that harkens back to hip-hop's legacy as urban poetry, closer to the Last Poets or Gil Scott Heron. But hip-hop's old old school isn't their only inspiration. They are also distinctly Japanese and, beyond that, distinctly northern, their roots firmly planted in Hokkaido.

Asked to comment on mainstream Japanese hip-hop, Ill Bosstino (or Boss, as he is usually called) leans back in his chair and casually flips the bird.