Tha Blue Herb — Stilling, still dreaming
Do not take me wrong: if Stilling, still dreaming is not as innovative as Sell our soul (review here), it is however an essential album, a real classic. You can find here all the elements that were to blossom with the years. No wonder DJ Krush took an instant liking to them...
If O.N.O hadn’t yet started to produce off-kilter beats, there is no doubt that he already had the talent to create nice melodies and an eye (or rather an ear) for great hooks. One can also find his trademark use of acoustic and traditional (or at least sounding that way) instruments and here and there some industrial-ish sounds. As for Boss the MC, well everything is already in place... His flow is fast but he never seems to hurry up, remaining constantly chilled out. His voice gives also a feeling of melancholy but never of self-pity. Not so long ago, I read an article about hiphop in Japan (here –French only) written by people who are real connoisseurs of that scene. One thing they said particularly interested me. Hiphop is an American art. So is rapping. If you start to rap in another language than English, you will have problem with the flow: if you try to rap like an American but in French, it will suck. You have to adapt the flow to your mother tongue. That’s why all the people around the world who sing in their own language but try to sound like real Brooklyn B-boys suck. Boss succeeded to make Japanese hiphop sound convincing. That’s why he his one my favourite MC’s. Usually a great lyricist, I can’t judge Boss on this area this time since I haven’t had the chance to read any translation.
Stilling, still dreaming starts with the sound of a plane arriving at Sapporo airport. Sapporo is the main city of Hokkaido, the most northern island of the three main Japanese islands. It’s Tha Blue Herb’s home and a theme that comes back often in their music and lyrics. Deep and dry bass, heavy beats, keys sounding like sirens. Boss sounds quite aggressive, willing to introduce himself and make sure no one is going to look down on him. Success! The second track is Once upon a laif in Sapporo. Heavy bass, softer beats, a nice guitar theme. Boss sounds much more relaxed. An instant classic. Another great tune is Yen with its use of a sampled piano melody that sounds like a broken music box for children, only able to play three notes. As the title seems to suggest, I guess the lyrics are about money. Up next is Shock shine no ran (first premise remix), a new version of their first single. It starts with a sound-clip of a Japanese film featuring two men who are probably not telling each other nice things which leads you to think that the track is gonna be somewhat aggressive. Surprise, it is not... The music is rather melancholic (piano again) but it’s true that the flow sounds somewhat vindictive. Bossizm marks the first appearance of strings on the album. They are going to be back on most tunes... Too often, strings are used because they are meant to be “beautiful”, “romantic”. On Stilling, still dreaming, it is not the case: O.N.O uses them masterfully, when needed and to get all sorts of emotions. Great work! For instance, Stoicizm, one of the best songs of the album is built around samples of subtle cello playing. Not likely to hear that in the corny work of R. Kelly. Another great track is Coast to coast 2, using a xylophone and a few industrial sounds, a tendency TBH were going to explore on later releases. Boss rapping is really phat on this track, one of his best performance of the album. Doku is the first 100% melancholic-sounding song with all its lush (yet sad, contradiction?) strings and a rather contemplative Boss... Pen to chie no wa mixes once more the strings (crazy-sounding this time around...) with weird industrial sounds. Quite claustrophobic, would the music be on its own, but Boss add some light to the final result. Ame ni mo makez is much more straight to the point with its bouncing beat, nice strings sample and a killer Boss.
The second CD compiles the first two TBH singles (two tracks each) and is the proof that, from the very beginning, they were already dope... Shock-shine no ran is quite different from the version featuring on the first CD. Darker, rougher, rawer... Even the piano sounds mournful. The flow is still as vindictive though... Next is Raging Bull, a rather basic track. Straight hiphop beat with a little string sample to provide the necessary melody. It sounds as if it had been crafted for live performance and to let Boss show off his skills. The second single is Third hallucination chaos and what a track that one is... Still pretty basic, there is a mysterious, almost mystique vibe going around here. Even the woman singing on the chorus sounds quite odd. Goth-hop avant la lettre? The B-side, Kitakaze (wind for win) is lighter. Still very good... A few tracks were forgotten from this review because I didn’t think they were that good. But rest assured that they in no way put to shame the rest of Stilling, still dreaming.
With their first album, Tha Blue Herb showed that Japanese hiphop was a force that had to be acknowledged. I tend to prefer their later releases, but in more straightforward hiphop, this is as good as it gets. Now, take that credit-card out of that (or your parents’) wallet and order this CD immediately, will ya? It is for your own good...
Note that most of the tracks can be found on Live @Core, a videotape containing the first TBH show in Tokyo.