For fans of jazz rap, anime, and underground hip-hop, Shing02’s voice carries a whole universe. From his formative years in the Bay Area scene to his work with Nujabes on Luv(sic) and ‘Battlecry’ from Samurai Champloo, the Japanese-American MC has built a body of work that continues to travel across generations, languages, and borders.
This year, Shing02 brings that legacy back to the stage through the Luv(sic) Hexalogy Tour, joined by OMA and SPIN MASTER A-1 for a live reimagining of the beloved series. Ahead of the shows in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Bandwagon caught up with Shing02 to talk about his early days in Berkeley, writing in English and Japanese, the lasting life of Luv(sic), and the memories of Nujabes that still stay with him.
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Before people knew you through Luv(sic) or Samurai Champloo, you were part of the Bay Area underground scene. What do you remember most vividly about that early period?
Just arriving in Berkeley, CA, in the fall of ’93 is what changed everything. I was only a casual listener in high school, but I loved drawing, so almost immediately I started showing my art around and doing work for artists — for free, most of the time. I met artists like Del The Funky Homosapien, everyone from Hieroglyphics, Hobo Junction, Mystik Journeymen, and Living Legends, to name a few.
Eventually, starting from freestyle sessions at the dorms, I was curious enough to start making beats with friends and performing at clubs. My first album was produced by Bas-1 of Cytoplasmz, so every day was an adventure showing up on Telegraph Ave. All in all, I started kind of late, at my age in college, so I feel like I had a lot to catch up on and a lot to prove.
You’ve described hip-hop through different languages, communities, and eras. What first made you feel like rap could hold all the different parts of who you were?
Being in the Bay Area, it was really accepting of many backgrounds, so it really helped. For example, it would have been different in New York in the ’90s. I also had many Asian-American mentors and peers, so it was only natural for me to think about how I could be unique, and that was for me to pull from my history of growing up in many countries. I also think it was important to start recording albums in Japanese because it really allowed me to be experimental instead of copying American hip-hop albums.
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You write and rap in both English and Japanese. Do different languages bring out different versions of your thoughts?
Definitely. As I said, when I write in Japanese, I tend to be more introspective and really try to play with the words more, whereas English rhymes can be straightforward and more about the storytelling. I almost never mix languages. It’s almost like they are two separate vehicles for me to drive, different instruments.
Luv(sic) has lived many lives — as a song series, a tribute, a fan favourite, and now a live experience. Did you ever imagine it would keep travelling this far?
I never imagined it because I never planned for there to be a sequel, let alone a whole six-part series, a Hexalogy. Over the years, it happened organically, and I really tried to put the music and message first above all. We never rushed anything. Even after Nujabes’ passing, we did everything at his studio.
The tour has also been a blessing, slowly growing every single year, and it’s been awesome to play with many musicians and in front of so many diverse crowds. It also allows us to travel to countries we’ve never been to, which is a dream come true.
When you first heard the beat that became ‘Luv(sic)’, what did it unlock in you as a writer?
At first, I wasn’t interested and let the beat cassette sit for weeks. I was busy. (Laughs) Then one day, I popped it in, and that beat really stood out and put me in a zone. I guess after the first line came out, the rest is history. Pretty sure I don’t have it anymore, but I wonder what happened to that tape!
A lot of fans discovered Nujabes and your work years after the songs were released. What has it been like watching younger listeners build their own relationship with Luv(sic)?
On tour, we see the audience is always getting younger, so that’s a great sign! But just because somebody’s a teenager, it doesn’t mean they haven’t been a listener for many years. I’m always thankful to whoever introduced the music to them in the first place, and for the legacy we’re building through the act of touring consistently. We also present the songs in many live formats, so it really makes me happy that the crowd is there to appreciate it through the solos and breakdowns.
‘Battlecry’ became a gateway for so many fans into underground hip-hop, jazz rap, and Japanese music. At the time, did you sense that Samurai Champloo would travel the way it did?
I honestly had no idea! But I instantly recognised Shinichiro Watanabe, the director of Cowboy Bebop, which was Del The Funky Homosapien’s favourite show. So it was a full-circle moment when the show actually aired in the US on Adult Swim. It was totally unexpected for me.
Shout out to Mr. Watanabe for thinking of me and reaching out through Nujabes. He is an avid hip-hop supporter. As for the song, we recorded a Japanese demo over what became ‘Horizon’, but the producers wanted a darker tone in English. So when I got the beat, I poured everything I had into it, and before I knew it, the opening theme animation was done.
So much of Nujabes’ music continues to feel deeply personal to listeners. What is a personal memory of him that you carry with you most?
I have many, but overall, I think he was mysterious and had many faces as a producer, record label and store owner, vinyl collector, aspiring instrumentalist, and a friend. I think he was trying as hard as possible to be a good musician, like all of us. As a hip-hop artist, sometimes you hit a wall if you don’t play an instrument and rely on samples. It made me study music theory so I could communicate keys and chords with musicians, which is so basic and crucial. With Nujabes, I remember that when he started touring with Uyama and Segawa as an ensemble, he told me that he would never go back to just DJing.
For the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur shows, this is a rare chance for Southeast Asian fans to experience the project live. What are you most curious to feel from audiences here?
I’m so excited to absorb the city and culture since it’ll be my first time ever going. I’ll be on the lookout for some finds, and I expect the shows with OMA and SPIN MASTER A-1 to be super dynamic and awesome.
Finally, what kind of project would you like to tackle next?
I’m always super behind on projects, so I don’t want to say anything. (Laughs) Right now, I’m still finishing up building a new studio space in Honolulu, so once that’s done, I’ll be excited to hook up all my hardware and start recording new music!
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Click here for tickets to Luv(sic) Hexalogy's Kuala Lumpur show on 21 June. The Singapore show is sold out.
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