Should I straighten my hair like this for Japan? Let my curls go free? Both?! Hmmm…!
Ready! / 準備できた！
Happy 4/20 Everyone - Be Safe!
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みなさん、ハッピ ４/２０！安全である！
Feelin’ it.
Fact #003:
Simple things make me happy; for they require the most thought.
Things You Should Do This Weekend:
1.) Tune in and listen to “Inside Out” (www.block.fm) - they play some legit American rap music and talk about the current hip hop scene in Japan. This is Aklo’s radio show. Don’t know about Aklo? You should. Don’t sleep on this dude - check him out here.
The show airs Monday at 12AM (midnight) in Japan.
That means if you live in California, you gotta WAKE UP and listen on SUNDAY at 8AM. The time difference is indeed THAT big.
2) Listen to the music portion of All Day Play (www.alldayplay.fm). I handed the music director a playlist of some legit Japanese rappers for him to use on air. He hasn’t told me exactly when the songs were gonna come up, he just said “I’ll throw ‘em in there”. And considering that the “there” he’s referring to is from 7PM to 9AM everyday, you really do have to listen to All Day Play…all day. Pun intended.
My playlist includes Klooz, Norikiyo, Salu, Hannya, Jay’ed, Seeda, Kojoe and others. I’m starting a second playlist next week.
Of course you can check out other parts of these stations.
Have a GREAT weekend, everyone! Be safe ~
-jaz
Fact #013:
I always forget that not many people have as good of an ear as me. Not trying to be arrogant, but case and point: I played an English track by Kojoe and then a Japanese one - I got asked, “That’s the SAME person?!”
His voice didn’t change - just his words. And his accent.
(I actually love that Kojoe doesn’t have a Japanese accent in his English and doesn’t have an American accent in his Japanese.)
The more you worry about it, the less they are.
Quick Q&A:
-I update my iPhone regularly so any music you find on it has a 99.9% chance of being something I’m in love with. My iPod just has everything and gets cleaned out maybe once a year.
- iTunes (America and Japan), YouTube, Ameba, and a few other places including word of mouth is how I stay up to date with my music. Also, being a fan of certain people helps. Listening to Block.fm helps, too.
-Of course I’m biased. We all are. I double check everything I do to make sure that my bias isn’t obvious. For example, if I have 3 songs by one artist in a playlist, and only 1 song from everyone else, I’ll make myself get rid of 2 songs by the first artist in order to be fair.
-Notable achievements so far:
- Having the guy at the radio station listen to a playlist of Japanese artists and consider putting them on air. In America. Where not too many people speak Japanese. Having at least 50% English was NOT a requirement.
This is a pretty BIG deal - I’m super proud of myself for this! He’s a DJ Krush fan and the songs I put in that playlist sound incredible. I’m 95% sure he’s going to put them ALL up. I’ll post the track listing in my next post because you all should listen to these artists, at least once. - Got the green light last week to get new press passes made.
- Klooz started following me on Instagram =)
Dropping this off at the radio station - legit #japanesehiphop for #alldayplay #norikiyo #klooz #salu #4WD #kojoe #jayed #simon #seeda #hannya #aklo #maccho #dabo #zeebra #ishone #bronK #tao #raekwon (Instagramで撮影)
CONTEST
Want this? We’re giving it away - once we reach 200 “likes”, we’re picking a name at random and sending it on it’s way to one lucky fan. You can be environmentally friendly while helping to spread the word about The Japan Project.
Source: the-japan-project
SOO smooth!
Long conversation short:
Ben: I got your email, Jaz. You tryin to put some Japanese hip hop on the radio?
Me: Yeah. How can I make that happen?
Ben: Send me a playlist.
Me: You’ll have it Monday at the latest.
Ben: Fa sho.
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Found out Ben started DJing because of DJ Krush (one of the first Japanese DJs), DJ Krush was in the bay not too long ago, and Ben secretly loves Japanese music.
Could this lead to my own show? I already picked out a DJ name just in case =)
-jaz
