Because it is not. The so-called "Japanese Jazzy Hip-Hop" is a vague concept, a big basket that can hold anything.
Nujabes’ raps that sampled jazz and his works that sampled Brazilian music were all labeled the same.
Other electronic and Instrumental Hip-Hop works by Nomak, DJ Okawari, Little West, etc. are also included. So a lot of the tracks don't sound like they have anything to do with jazz.
Of course jazz rap exists. Rap ??in the golden age sampled a lot of old jazz records. Shook Ones Pt.II sampled Herbie Hancock. Guru’s Jazzmatazz directly invited Donald Byrd and other jazz veterans to come over. Recording, as well as real-instrument bands like The Roots, and jazz musicians like Robert Glasper who crossed over into rap.
Jazz-HipHop, as the name suggests, is jazz rap. This is an attempt in the 1990s when black hip-hop music was experiencing hardcore and Gangsta, and then integrating black music with today's mainstream music. While modern mainstream music is becoming more and more influential, let black music continue to shine.
Hard-core, gang-labeled hip-hop music often collides with jazz, like an angel holding a pistol, impacting hearing and perception in the most domineering way with warmth and love.
The first Jazz-HipHop I came into contact with was Nujabes, a top music producer from Japan. His real name is "Jun Seba" (瀬叶淳). He spelled his name backwards, so he was called Nujabes. I believe that many friends who know Nujabes come from a relatively niche Japanese anime called "Chaos Warriors".
The anime "Chaos Samurai" tells the story of a woman who met two ronin with different personalities in a tavern in the Edo period of Japan. They met because of grievances and misunderstandings, and finally got together. Go find a "sunflower flavored samurai".
This 26-episode animation in 2004 used Jazz-HipHop as the theme song and soundtrack for the first time. As the main music producer, nujabes uses HipHop and wandering samurai historical drama to tell the story of ronin, samurai, maids, and officials during the Edo period.
The Zen-like plot, exciting duels and kills, combined with the beating notes of HipHop and Brazilian classical music, add a lot of color to this animation in addition to content and style. Coupled with the interspersed Jazz-HipHop, the picture is full of strong jazz flavor and poetry.
At the end of this animation, the three of them said goodbye in a hurry, without looking back or taking any souvenirs. Looking at the entire show, the impression given is that "let the past go", which is also in line with some of the spirit of HipHop: real, straightforward, being true to yourself and not being trapped by the past. ?
The "Song of the Four Seasons" at the end also has a high degree of popularity. The cover and re-written lyrics of this song are no less popular than any popular song in the past.
For me, the way to understand nujabes is not from "Chaos Warriors", but from "luv (sic)" by nujabes and Japanese hiphop singer shing02 (hereinafter referred to as luvsic) series.
Luvsic comes from the "Freedom, Love, Peace" trilogy collaborated by Nujabes and shing02, and the luvsic series has six chapters in one ***, from luv (sic) pt.1 to luv (sic ) pt.6, each exudes the themes of what love is, the source of love, the beauty of the world, the sounds of the four seasons, freedom and peace.
The cover of "Luv (sic) pt.1" shows the owner holding a puppy, which may be telling us that this is the most primitive "love".
What is sad is that on the night of February 26, 2010, Nujabes died in a car accident in Tokyo. A generation of top music producers has left this world.
The partners found a beat called "Luv(sic) Final Chapter" saved in his mobile phone. People from the record label traced the clues and found the work file, and thus we have what we have today. "Luv(sic) Grand Finale" (also known as Luv(sic)PT6.
But later Uyama Hiroshi produced a remix, and it was actually named "Luv(sic)pt6" Maybe this is the unsatisfactory side of the Love series. There is no 6 in luvsic, only a final chapter that will never have a 6 again).
For me, my favorite song in the entire luvsic series is definitely luvsic pt.3. But looking at the entire series, there is no distinction between good and bad. Each song is enough to shock everyone's heart, the blending of every lyric and melody, and the impact of every beat on the heart.
For me, it is a height that no Jazz-HipHop song can reach. And I believe that everyone who likes the luvsic series will arrange their own play order for luvsic in their hearts.
Maybe God wanted to listen to Jazz-HipHop, and he took Nujabes away that night.
HipHop is slowly moving from the underground to the ground, and Jazz-HipHop, as an important form of HipHop, will gradually be loved by more people. Compared with hardcore HipHop, Jazz-HipHop Might be easier for people to accept and like.
Many domestic rappers have good Jazz-HipHop masterpieces, such as Wang Yitai, Wang Shanhuo, Jonyj, and Saber Liang Weijia, all of whom have one or two good Jazz-HipHop songs.