COMMON, The Roots, and Arrested Development.
I discovered them when I was 23, and that’s when my journey into hip-hop finally began.
These guys are rappers, but they don’t look like thugs! (Back then, I thought all rappers were gangsters.)
Their fashion is pretty cool, too! (I especially liked Black Thought, Questlove, and Speech.)
My family home was in an apartment building near the docks along Hakata Bay, close to the urban expressway and the cargo unloading area.
It was a town that seemed like a microcosm of social inequality, with clusters of two-story apartments, public housing, and high-rise apartment complexes clearly divided by income level.
It was a town a bit removed from the city center, full of street racers, biker gangs, drug dealers, and yakuza.
An artificial, inorganic, and arid concrete town, typical of reclaimed land.
The hip-hop playing in the town was gangsta rap and boom bap.
It was music that seemed to fit the macho-ism-dominated, old-fashioned provincial atmosphere—at least on the surface.
Doggie, Dre, 50 Cent, Ice Cube, N.W.A., 2Pac, Biggie
Back then, I used to avoid certain rappers just based on their appearance, but thanks to the encounter I mentioned earlier, I’ve come to appreciate their music properly.
Nowadays, I feel like rolling up one pant leg is one way to get it right.
