[WORLD GROOVE] Currently listening to 2BACKKA - Touch
February 2, 2008 by KNDY · Leave a Comment
GROUP: 2BACKKA
ALBUM TITLE: Touch
LABEL: avex trax
CATALOG #: AVCD-23402
DURATION: 56:48
RELEASE DATE: Novmeber 28, 2007
- HOME - Feat. BENNIE K
- Mekumori - Feat. mayula
- Sureshot
- Redscorpion
- NEXT STATION - Feat. Watanabe Toshimi [Tokyo No. 1 Soul Set/The Zoot 16]
- 道 [Album Ver.]
- 粋 [Album Ver.] - Feat. B-BANDJ
- WA!!
- KARMA
- japa’ Needs
- GET UP [DJ HAMA Scratch Remix]
- The Creative Kabuki
- Interlude
- Memories [Album Ver.]
I have been listening to the hip hop group 2BACKKA’s (pronounced as Tsubakka) “Touch” album for past couple of days and just found it interesting that I really haven’t heard this group until recently.
The group consists of MC’s HAMMER and MAGO and DJ HAMA. The trio started the group back in 1999 and released Indie albums but in 2006, the group was signed to a major record label deal with avex trax and is managed by tearbridge production (which manages a lot of major avex artists such as Hamasaki Ayumi, Every Little Thing, globe and other record label’s artists such as mihimaru GT and SEAMO).
In 2006, the group released their debut album “SIGN” and were featured in the “Yoru no Picnic” Original Soundtrack. But their big break came in July 2007 when they collaborated with SEAMO for “Rising Dragon” (coupling song on SEAMO’s “Fly Away” CD single).
The group then released a couple of CD singles with “NEXT STATION” (their first CD single in Sept. 2007) with Tokyo No. 1 Soulset’s Watanabe Toshimi, their 2nd CD single “HOME” with BENNIE K (rel. Oct. 2007) and their second album “Touch” which was released in November 2007.
The album features both CD singles and I guess if I had to describe their style of hip hop, the first thing that came to my mind was EMI artist DJ OZMA. The music has a commercial style of feel, something you can bop your head too and definitely not hardcore with East Coast USA influence.
Also, another thing that separates them from other hip hop groups is the look. The group looks very different style-wise compared to other Japanese hip hop talent.
“HOME” which features a collaboration with BENNIE K and features a fun collaboration between the two as the guys and BK’s CICO rap and YUKI’s vocals make the song much more enjoyable.
“Mekumori” features a collaboration with mayula. Although not released as a CD single, the song does have a PV and its a pretty fun song with the guys rapping and vocals by mayula who sounds very similar to Utada Hikaru.
“Sureshot” sounds like a track by DJ OZMA which has that “Bounce with me” type of sound.
“粋” (choice) features B-BAND J and features an Japanese traditional style of music and very cool collaboration and incorporation of traditional music to the song balanced with a deep drum bass and groove. Really cool!
“KARMA” is one of the few tracks that sounds different from all the songs featured on the album. The song is harder and features a pretty quick delivery of a barrage of lyrics by HAMMER.
“GET UP [DJ HAMA Scratch Remix]” is actually very cool because it features thes cratching by DJ HAMA and for those who listen to hip hop, very reminiscent to some old school hip hop stuff albums would feature an all scratch track. So, it was cool to see that on this album.
The CD insert features the song lyrics and photos of the members of 2BACKKA.
I really enjoyed 2BACKKA’s music. It’s not hardcore compared other artists who go for that East Coast, in-your-face style. If anything, 2BACKKA reminds me of the quirkiness of the BEASTIE BOYS and their ability to just have fun and try to incorporate different sounds and musical styles into their music.
So, it was definitely a fresh sound from a lot of the stuff I’ve been listening to and all in all, it’s a pretty fun album with a good balance of different music, really cool collaborations and definitely an album worth checking out!
