Background
He was born in Yokohama, Japan, and discovered rap and hip-hop while working as a chef.
He was born in Yokohama, Japan, and discovered rap and hip-hop while working as a chef.
Many of his songs illustrate the contrasts between his Japanese culture and Western hip-hop influences. He shows his attachment to Japanese culture by wearing a traditional kimono in many of his appearances. In fact, on his album "The adventures of Kohei Japan", he appears on the cover as a kabuki character in a woodblock print.
On the album cover, his hands make the universal "funk" sign, showing the contrast between a traditional Japan and a hip-hop culture.
Indeed, in his song "Hungry Strut", he proclaims that he eats "rice, not bread, and fish, not meat", thereby asserting that while being a member of the hip-hop culture, he remains Japanese.