DJ Krush

interview by Spence D.

        DJ Krush is Japan`s preeminent mixmaster. His wicked smooth 
turntable technique is much in demand, thanks to the slammin` 
remixes he has hooked up for Gangstarr frontman Guru and modern jazz 
guitar icon Ronnie Jordan, as well as his wild collaborations with 
DJ Shadow. In his native city of Tokyo, Krush has not only worked 
with a variety of popular Japanese jazz musicians but has also 
weaved together lush hip-hop soundscapes for television and film 
soundtracks. While technically a DJ, Krush actually operates more on 
the scale of a hip-hop composer, mixing and orchestrating programmed 
and sampled beats, blending them with live instrumentation to create 
swingin` hip-hop jazz suites. It is this fondness for incorporating 
hard bop, swing jazz and hip-hop elements into his music which have 
caused him to be labeled as one of the progenitors of the global 
hip-hop and acid jazz scene. To put it bluntly, DJ Krush is a 
heavyweight amongst the international hip-hop set. Earlier this year 
Krush made a rare visit to NYC and spence d. was able to interview 
him via fax, tape and interpreter. 

spence d.:What is the significance of your name, DJ Krush? How did 
you get that name?

DJ Krush: I didn`t choose this name. It was given to me. When I was 
starting out in my career there were these two black artists who I 
knew in Tokyo, at that time I was working with my brother, and these 
guys said "Uh, you guys are a little off..." Those guys gave me the 
name Krush and my younger brother was called Bang. So it was 
Krush-Bang. Sounds like a car wreck, but that`s how I got my name.
 
sd:What first drew your attention to hip-hop? 

Krush: Ten years ago there was an event held by Wildstyle in Japan. 
They came to Japan and took over an entire floor in a department 
store. I was just amazed by them.
 
sd:Who and what are your influences? 

Krush: I listen a lot of different types of music. You know, rock, 
jazz, in addition to hip-hop, but what seems to connect with me the 
most is hip-hop. So primarily my influences are what people now call 
the "old style" or "Old School" of artists, like Kurtis Blow. Those 
were my first influences. In terms of DJs, there`s Grandmaster 
Flash, and DST. I think those were my first impressions (of hip-hop) 
and my first influences. Also my father listened to a great deal of 
James Brown and Miles Davis, so I`d been exposed to them from a very 
early age, so there are those influences, too.
 
sd:What was the first hip-hop record that you ever bought and when 
did you start scratching and mixing on the turntables? 

Krush: Sugarhill GangÕs "Rapper`s Delight" was the first hip-hop 
record that I ever bought. After I saw that Wildstyle performance 
event that I mentioned before, the next day I went to an instrument 
shop to purchase a turntable, mixer and a sampler and started 
scratching and mixing on my own. So the day after the Wildstyle 
performance in Japan was when I began DJing. That Wildstyle 
performance was about 10 years ago, so I started scratching and 
mixing on turntables about 10 years ago.
 
sd:Why have you chosen to explore the unison of hip-hop and jazz?

Krush: Well I`ve always done this. I`ve always been interested in 
jazz and using jazz elements in my music. It`s just that it wasn`t as
popular as it is now, this was before the whole boom of "acid jazz" 
and this whole popularity of it. But I`ve always been doing this, 
it`s just that now people are recognizing it.
 
sd: How would you describe your sound? 

Krush: Well it`s just that I`ve listened to a lot of music over the 
years and I was raised in Tokyo and combining all those elements is 
expressed in my sound. It`s that simple. What is expressed in [my 
music] is a result of those various influences. And hopefully my 
personality is infused in it. You know, the whole thing is just a 
combination of a lot of different elements that are me.
        
sd:What images and emotions do you want your music to invoke in the 
listener?

Krush: What you`re asking is what the person is thinking as they 
listen to my music? Well I think some people might listen to it, 
like hear my music and think "Wow, it`s really great." But there 
might be others that think "Wow, it`s really weird." But someplace 
in-between, in some aspect or another, I hope that people appreciate 
it and like it.
 
sd:What do you look for in a beat?

Krush: What`s important is not just the individual beat itself, but 
the total groove. That`s very, very important.
 
sd: Can you break down the Japanese hip-hop scene for me? I`m 
familiar with the Japanese dancehall artist Chappie, and Microphone 
Pager and SDP & Takaji Kan. Are there other Japanese hip-hop crews 
that we should be aware of? Who are the major players? 

Krush: In addition to the individuals that you mentioned here, 
another Japanese rapper who is also in the popular charts is a group 
by the name of East End. They`re very popular. Other than that there 
is a just a plethora [of rappers and groups], I mean 
six-of-one-half-dozen-of the other. [There`s so many] you can`t 
really compare them. I think that these people [rappers] might be 
popular in Japan and with the people who appreciate them, but then 
if you take them out of Japan and put them here in America, the home 
of hip-hop, well then I think they might have some problems. They 
might hit a wall [so to speak]. So until they cross that wall and 
are acknowledged by the American hip-hop scene, they are just going 
to live and die in the tiny, tiny hip-hop scene that is in Japan.
 
sd: How do you feel that the Japanese hip-hop scene is perceived 
outside of Japan? Is it taken seriously or seen as a passing fad?

Krush: Sometimes I ask myself, "Is there a hip-hop scene in Japan?" 
The most interest comes from kids in high school. I mean there are 
these guys in the pop charts and they`re doing OK, but I don`t think 
it will last. It`s like breakdancing. There was this incredible 
interest, almost infatuation, and it soared, then it peaked, and 
then it just disappeared. Boom!, just like that.
 
sd: I once read about Japanese youth who go to tanning salons to 
darken their skin and others who don black-face masks so as to 
appear more like the black rappers from New York. Does this type of 
thing occur in the hip-hop scene? Do you see this assimilation of 
black culture as a tribute/form of respect or as an insult?

Krush: Yes, it does occur in the hip-hop scene. And not only in the 
hip-hop scene, but in others. Not only do they put on black paint or 
dark, dark foundations or go to tanning salons, they also have their 
hair done in dreadlocks. And I find this offensive, I really hate 
it. People who are doing it think it looks good, but I think it`s an 
incredible insult. It`s the younger people who are doing this. I 
mean I have black friends who have told me that Japanese hair is 
perfectly nice hair, [and they wonder] "why do you go out of your 
way to change your hair and go to these tanning salons and burn 
yourself?" It`s ridiculous. I mean why? You look perfectly good the 
way you do. Accept yourself. It`s only young people who do this 
because they care about the externals of hip-hop, not the internals. 
They think if you have the external [the look] thatÕs enough. Unless 
these kids perceive that they just can`t go around imitating and 
carbon copying these people [black rappers], the Japanese hip-hop 
scene is not going to grow.
 
sd: Even though your music is primarily instrumental what are the 
major themes explored in Japanese hip-hop? Does it follow the guns, 
ghetto, and pimp imagery commonly associated with American gangsta 
rap or does it adhere to a more socio-political/afrocentric theme? 
Another, more simple way to phrase this question is What do Japanese 
rappers rap about? 

Krush: Well, you know, initially they did follow the guns, ghetto 
and pimp imagery, because, once again they were just focusing on the 
externals of rap and it was sort of ridiculous because you look at 
these kids and they have no history, or no exposure to violence or 
pimping or the hardness of ghetto life. They were Japanese kids just 
imitating the externals. But now, little-by-little, bit-by-bit you 
have these Japanese kids who are just rapping about their own 
socio-economic background and their own normal Japanese lives, 
things they are familiar with. I think all young people just imitate 
the externals when they first become infatuated with hip-hop and rap 
and they just get obsessed with the externals. When I was younger I 
just imitated that too. It`s just a matter of when you perceive that 
the externals have nothing to do with your own reality, it`s just a 
matter of when you perceive this and grow out of it.
 
sd: How did you hook-up with Guru? 

Krush: When Guru came to Japan there was a concert and I was a big 
fan of his. So I went backstage to visit him and I gave him a 
present, it was this hard to obtain record and that was the 
beginning of our friendship. 
 
sd:Who would you like to work with in the future?

Krush: I have the good fortune of working with the people I want to 
work with in the future right now. After that, well, I haven't 
thought that far ahead. The people I am working with right now, who 
IÕve always wanted to work with, are CL Smooth, Big Shug, The Roots, 
DJ Shadow and Solar of Headrush. And of course Guru.
 
sd: How have you overcome the Japanese - English language barrier?

Krush: By great good fortune I have a magnificent interpreter, so in 
terms of interviews, I have no problem. But when I`m in the 
recording studio I can get a lot done with facial expressions. When 
I`m working with someone, we may not speak the same language but I 
might make a weird face or frown, so they know it doesn`t sound 
good. If it`s good, you know, thumbs up and I smile and it`s good. 
While I`m in the recording studio I`ve also picked up a few words 
and phrases. But when I was younger I had no idea that I would be in 
this line of work and working in English, so it`s a problem. I 
regret now, I should have worked harder in school to study English. 
I shouldn`t have been playing so much mahjong, shouldn`t have been 
sniffing glue (sly grin, followed by laughter), I should have worked 
harder. I think English will become more and more important for the 
Japanese, so I want my kids to study English and will make sure that 
they study English very hard. I feel really frustrated because I 
would like to speak to people about detailed issues and I know what 
I want to say, but I just can`t say it and this is really 
infuriating. But IÕm going to work hard and little by little I`ll 
pick up the language a little bit more and this way I`ll be able to 
express myself. But I`m really scared because as I get older my 
memory is shot and my memory fades, so maybe I won`t learn the 
language. So that could be a problem.
 
sd: Do you see your music as a universal language? 

Krush: Well I don`t know if I would use the term "universal 
language" but if people listen to my music and they like it and get 
good feelings from it thatÕs all that matters.

*much thanks to DJ Krush, his magnificent interpreter and Janet over 
at Instinct for hooking up the interview. Remember, hip-hop ain`t 
just about East Coast or West Coast, it`s gone straight worldwide...