KANDYTOWN's allies. KIKUMARU, MASATO, and Minnesotah talk about how they approach their music.

KIKUMARUI am rather familiar with Futakotamagawa. I once held an event at a boutique called "ROUTE. I live in Komazawa, but it is my way to go to Kitami.

MinnesotahMy hometown is very close to here, about 15 minutes by bicycle. I used to come here often since I was a child.

KIKUMARUFutakotama and Kitami are quite different. Kitami is a bit far from the city. I think it is because of this distance that the city looks different to us. I think the sense of locality is also important in my works. Roots are a part of the work that cannot be removed, and they appear on their own.

Minnesotah. I think the music you listen to changes depending on where you live. If I lived in Okinawa, I would definitely want to play chill music. . I honestly don't know if it has a direct influence on me. Maybe it's because I grew up in the suburbs that I feel the way I do now.

MASATOI was born and raised in Tokyo, and in a sense, I have a sense of pride. I am personally conscious of how to listen to music in this place, or how to show that what we are doing is the best. There are many meanings, but I think it is cool to embody "city pop" in the broadest sense of the word and incorporate it into hip-hop.

KIKUMARU. I guess you could say that my music is eclectic, mixing the old with the new. I dare to use metaphors and Japanese words that are not so common nowadays. I think our style is a fusion of the deep parts that you can barely understand after listening to it a few times, and the hooky parts that come straight into your head.

MinnesotahIf each of us had come from a different background, we definitely wouldn't have the style we have today.

KIKUMARU. yes, I think that's true. I think it comes together because we were close to each other and shared the same music. For example, I would listen to a mix CD they had released, and if I found a track I liked on it, I would listen to it. Conversely, if I found a good record, I would suggest to them that they play it.

MASATOIt's exciting to hear what rappers come up with. They come from strange angles that we would never have thought of on our own.

MinnesotahI know that's messed up.

KIKUMARUI think we all share the same standards of what's simply cool. People may say, "I like this," but they don't often say, "This is lame. but not so much, "This is lame. There is no sense of rivalry because we share the same groove.

MinnesotahI got acquainted with KIKU when he appeared in some MC battle. . It was also an event with MASATO-kun. I have been friends with Neetz (beatmaker of KANDYTOWN) since elementary school when we played soccer together. He was good friends with people from Wako (high school), where KIKU and MASATO-kun went to. . and that's how I became friends with them, too.

KIKUMARUThey introduced me as Neetz's My Men. He said, "Oh, you're a DJ . I'm a rapper . We're from the same hometown. That's how we met. And then we decided to write a song together.

MinnesotahI was in my second year of high school at the time, right? I knew that people in Wako were doing something, but I went to a public school, so I was more like friends with Ryohu and B.S.C. . So, I went to parties of BANKROLL (one of KANDYTOWN's member groups; B.S.C., Dony Joint, IO, DJ MASATO, Ryohu, and YUSHI belong to this crew) and so on.

MASATOKIKU and I have been together since elementary school.

KIKUMARUI got interested in hip-hop largely because YUSHI (a member of KANDYTOWN, who passed away in February 2015) and MASATO taught me about it.

MASATOMy brother is a hip-hop fan and used to listen to it a lot, so I was influenced by him. Around the same time, YUSHI started getting interested in Billboard, MTV, and the latest hip-hop. We were both so influenced that we felt the need to teach others about hip-hop.

KIKUMARUYUSHI was already a B-BOY from around 6th grade. . I often used him as a fashion reference back then.

MASATOI miss it.

KIKUMARUAt the time, MASATO and I were wearing really loose-fitting clothes. We were wearing XXL shirts, and my friend was wearing a doo-rag, glasses, and a New Era cap like ...... (laughs). We used to listen to Eminem, 50 Cent, and all the hip-hop that was popular at the time.

MASATOI started getting interested in things like soul and funk in the 00s, largely because of Kanye West. He was making tracks that were fast-forwarded from old records, and I thought that was cool. . That's when I started listening to the originals.

KIKUMARUWhen I was in the third grade, YUSHI said, "MASATO is the DJ and you and I are the rappers. We started out like ......, having non-rappers write lyrics (laughs). It was just an extension of fun.

MASATOKIKU is and always has been a man of action. The word "action with words" fits perfectly. Back then, we were making a new piece of work every month. Everyone was involved in that with features. I was conscious of the fact that I was improving my skills as a rapper.

KIKUMARUI started working as a rapper later than other members of KANDYTOWN, and when I saw BANKROLL, I thought, "I want to rap! I saw BANKROLL and thought, "I want to rap! So I was always thinking, "I'm going to make a lot of music and get good at it. I think I was around 20 years old when I started releasing a CD every month. I burned CD-Rs and handed them out to people around me. That brings back memories (laughs).

MASATO. I remember that. It was like "KIKUMARU - the month issue" (laughs).

KIKUMARUI had been watching MASATO and MINNESOTAH DJs for a long time and trusted them, so I decided to invite them when it was important. Nowadays, the number of DJs who use two records is gradually increasing, but back then, there were not many DJs of our generation who used two records. The person who did the most backing DJ work was Minnesotah. There was a time when I was playing seven shows a month. There were times when we were so enthusiastic that we rehearsed in the studio for about 8 hours even though we were only supposed to be on stage for about 15 minutes (laughs).

MinnesotahYes, there was (laughs). But time passed very quickly. Ah, it was like we were already rehearsing (laughs). (Laughs) I remember that day's concert well because we were able to perform with the same intensity as in rehearsal, and it went well. It felt like we were really kicking ass.

KIKUMARUWhen I gave each of them a copy of the new album, saying, "This song is done," they would suggest a different song, such as "This song would be good with The Roots' instrumental," for MASATO, or "Let's do it with Madlib! Minnesotah would say, "Let's do it with Madlib! Each of them has their own individuality, and it is very interesting.

MinnesotahBoth MASATO-kun and I like soul and funk, and we DJ with records, but I think our styles are totally different.

KIKUMARUI haven't had a chance to listen to their mix of "Blue Note" yet, but I'm really looking forward to hearing the finished product. I really like the mix CD called "SOUL CITY" that MASATO made as a bonus for TAWARECO when my first album was released. Minnesotah's mix has a cool jacket. Their styles are definitely different: MASATO always puts in a killer tune somewhere, and Minnesotah is very good at handling the core songs. . I feel like they are both people who can teach you new senses of what you already know, and people who can teach you areas you don't know at all.

KIKUMARU. It was huge to have Ryohu's advice. I wanted this album to be good musically, and I think Ryohu is the rapper among my peers who approaches that aspect of music the best.

KIKUMARUYes, many of my friends participated in the project, and there was a proposal to use the title "Feel Good" because July 11 is "7-Eleven," but I finally decided against it because I thought it would be tacky (laughs). I have always loved "Ralph Lauren," and when the brand was founded, its Manhattan address was "711. I feel that kind of destiny in "711.

Minnesotah. "711" is more KIKU-like than "Feel Good".

MASATOWhen you listen to the album, it's not "Feel Good" at all (laughs).

KIKUMARUThis time, I consulted with MASATO about the order of the songs, and from the initial stage of collecting beats, I asked him, "How about this? I would talk to MASATO about the order of the songs, and even from the stage of collecting the beats, I would ask him, "How about this? After the songs were completed, I asked him again, "How about this kind of flow? After the songs were completed, I asked them for their advice. The order of the songs this time was catchy at the beginning, with some blackened elements in between, and some mellow ones as well... I think the flow of the songs is such that you will never get tired of it.

KIKUMARUI want to release an EP once a year, but I am also active in KANDYTOWN. I made an EP last September, and at that time I asked my friends and others around me, "Isn't this beat good?　Do you want to write a song about it? And then, after the EP was completed, I decided to release an album.

MASATO. This time, I listened to the songs as soon as they were completed to some extent. Each time I listened to it, it got better and better, and I think it has become one of KIKU's masterpieces.

KIKUMARUI think it's very important to push yourself, and Ryohu has been fucking good at it since he first started rapping, and I'm not, so I think he's the type of guy who gets better at it as he goes along. I'm not like that, so I guess I'm the type of person who gets better as I go along.

MinnesotahIt was made possible because we both share the same likes. The record company approached us when we released our last CD ("KANDYTOWN LIFE presents "Land of 1000 Classics" mixed by MASATO & Minnesotah", a mix CD produced to celebrate the 70th anniversary of ATLANTIC RECORDS). Minnesotah"), the record company approached me.

MASATOTwo people can play as a team better than one. We can develop each other's good points and cover each other's shortcomings.

MASATOAt first, we talked about making a mellow, pleasant mix, but that has been done so many times before. But that has been done so many times before, so we chose a wide range of songs with an eye to what kind of difference we could make.

MinnesotahAs a binding factor, I didn't want to create an era that was out of date, so I included Robert Glasper and others. I wanted to create a groove throughout.

MASATOThere was also an underlying concept to include things that jazz-loving old men wouldn't like so much (laughs).

MinnesotahI think I can express myself more in my solo work, and KANDYTOWN is like the best of each of us. KANDYTOWN is like the best of each of us.

MASATOKANDYTOWN can make something good because each one of us is different.

KIKUMARUI think what KANDYTOWN values is "soul". Although our roots are different from each other, we all share our soul. However, my solo works are also KANDYTOWN. So I don't do anything lame. Everything comes back to KANDYTOWN. The reverse is also true.

MinnesotahI think that because we've been together for so long, we've never lost that balance.

KIKUMARUKANDYTOWN is not finished to begin with. . Therefore, there is no way to break it.

MinnesotahThat's a good point (laughs).

KIKUMARU. I don't really have a concrete idea of what I want to do. However, every time I release a new album, I have more opportunities to talk with rappers and DJs that I like, and I am confident that I am getting closer and closer to where I want to be. I would like to release songs more and more consistently both as KANDYTOWN and as a solo artist.

MASATO. I would like to continue the kind of activities that we have been doing. Also, the record culture is becoming less and less common among my generation, so it may be an exaggeration to say that I want to increase the number of people who pick up records at ......, but I would like to be involved in activities that will help preserve this record culture. I would like to help preserve this record culture.

MinnesotahAs MASATO and KIKU mentioned, I would like to be someone that the younger generation can look up to someday. It would be great if some of the younger generation would start DJing with analog records after seeing us.