SasakiI am Sasaki (KID FRESINO) , 22 years old, born in 1993, Sagittarius. I am from Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. 2 years ago I came to NY. I am a rapper.

Sasaki. it's semi-missionary (laughs). . I didn't feel like anything interesting was going to happen while I was in Japan, so I came here. I didn't intend to come here and rap, at first. I quit my job and studied mixing, and after a year or two, I probably wouldn't even be listening to hip-hop. . I wanted to go into a studio where what is called pop music is made over here and do it.

Sasaki. it felt like it was going to be boring. It felt like it was coming to an end. . I kept feeling like I was going into the lake. Every day I felt that I was moving toward the center of the lake, and that I was now knee-deep in it. I felt that if I kept going like this, I would drown. So I decided to get out. I had been thinking of going to L.A. since I was in high school. It was a preparatory school, and everyone seemed to be going to college , but if I had been able to study well, it might have been different. If I had been able to study well, it might have been different, but my grades were not good, so college was never in my mind. I had a vague idea that I might like to go abroad. That was LA.

SasakiI think everyone has an image of Tokyo as seen from other places, like an aerial shot of Roppongi or something like that. My image of New York was like that, too. I mean, I had an image of a glittering city, but I had no idea that it was such a bleak place (laughs). I guess you can't look at it from above. My image of New York was like an aerial shot of passing the Empire State Building and going to Central Park. In Tokyo, it was like shooting Roppongi and Tokyo Tower from a helicopter. I think that's the image everyone has of Tokyo. That's the image I had, too. But when you look at it from the ground up, it's completely different. Especially when you live in Harlem.

SasakiI didn't have a big image in mind, but I saw "LEON" in Japan . I was still a small child, and I didn't know that it was in New York, but I watched it. When I came here and started living here, I watched it again and thought, "This is New York. Apart from incidents like that, there are apartments where people from all walks of life live, such as Delhi and Little Italy. Sharing. This is it! That's it! But the people who live in such places are in a pretty big trouble. That's how I felt.

Sasaki. it's great fun when I get a chance to talk to a black person or something who can afford it. That kind of timing is what makes me most happy to be here. The waitresses, too. Basically, I think there are a lot of guys who can't afford to be here, but, well, there are guys who are half and half having a good time. When I asked them to give me honey for honey, they said, "Honey, you're here!" . I get most excited when I meet people who say things like, "You're going to get honey, right? (Laughs.) "You're going to get honey, right? (laughs). (Laughs.) That kind of thing would never happen in Japan, so it makes me happy.

Basically, I am at home all the time and rarely communicate with them, so those happening things are interesting. When I walk down the street, a black man may know a girl in town from when he was little, so when we pass each other, he will say, "You look beautiful today! Thank you, Uncle!" When we passed each other, we would exchange something like, "You look beautiful today! When I see such a scene, I think, "That's nice! (Laughs). That is the most exciting time for me. (Laughs) . That is also the reason why I am here, to encounter such situations. I had the impression that the city was more sophisticated. But, to put it another way, London is the best city. . I think it's very interesting just to walk around, I think. The buildings are built along curves, like that, or Disneyland, or something like that. I've never been there (laughs). (Laughs.) Manhattan is all squares. There are not many buildings that interest me. I rarely go to Brooklyn or Queens, so I don't know what it's like there.

Sasaki. production. . I'm either making music, reading comics, or reading books. During the week, I go to language school all the time. I don't know if I'm doing well, but my life is a mess to begin with, and now that I'm living on my own, I think it's time for me to discipline myself. When I was in Japan, I used to sleep 15 hours a day. So I think it's good that I get up before noon and go to school. Also, I sometimes go to live concerts. Some people invite me. . I don't buy records, so I don't go to record stores.

Sasaki. not much has changed. I haven't met people, so I can't really feel it. However, I have really been reading more books, and as for changes, I am rather more interested in the Japanese language. It's like I'm studying kanji when I can't even speak good English (laughs). (Laughs) . I am losing Japanese more and more, and I can no longer write kanji that I used to be able to write. Also, when I read books, I used to skip over words I didn't understand, but when you are studying English, you don't skip over words you don't understand. But when I was in Japan, I skipped over all the Japanese words. So it was a great thing to realize that. I realized that I had neglected the Japanese language when I studied English. I could understand the nuance of a kanji when I saw it, but I had to study it carefully, write it down in a notebook, and be able to write it down. Well, it may not mean anything, though.

Sasaki. where I don't have hay fever. Also, I don't get sick at all. When I was in Japan, I was sick all the time, all the time . I have atopic dermatitis, and it was also very bad. But when I am in New York, I don't feel sick at all. I feel really well. I just feel good all the time. Maybe it's because when I am in Japan, I have to go out a lot, and I don't have to do that, but it's good. When I go back to Japan, it's all the time. Colds, gastroenteritis, fever, atopic dermatitis, hay fever, allergies, and so on, I had to deal with them for a month, even during the tour. It was painful. But as soon as I got back to New York, I was fine. I don't know why, maybe it's the air. I guess I should simply go to Aomori instead of Kanto (laughs). . My body is weak, so I get sick in Tokyo. . But if I had to stay, I would stay in Tokyo, if it were in Japan. I would be offended if I said that there is not much point in living anywhere but Tokyo, but I am not interested in Tokyo at all.

Sasaki. stinky . . it is.

Sasaki. about the only thing: I have a few good friends. I don't have anything to say about the city , nothing. . maybe I'm saying this because I don't know too much about Japan.

Sasaki. where the youth are lame. . no hope. From my age on down, it's all hopeless.

Sasaki: I wonder, what's wrong with that? I just think it's not good enough, that's all . . I don't mean to say that I've seen them all, but I think the youth are no good. I haven't seen anyone cool in my generation. Maybe it's the old people who created the current strange trend, but I don't think we have any more influence than they do, unfortunately. . I wish the young people would do everything from magazines to TV, though. Old men should do farming or something (laughs). That's an exaggeration (laughs). What I am saying is that I want to have friendly competition.

Sasaki: I think it's impossible to be cooler than us, for now. I think it's 100% impossible right now. And maybe it will change in a few decades, but considering the current hip-hop trend, I don't think it will be possible. . I don't have any pride. . in fact, I'm not a great musical talent. . even when it comes to recording skills, it's not much of a talent. . But that's not really the point of hip-hop. It would be impossible to surpass him in that respect. There are probably plenty of people who can sing my lyrics better than I can, but it's not that kind of music. In that sense, I don't think it can be surpassed.

Sasaki. it's a natural thing. I'm excited about what I'm going to do, so . I don't think that I'm done at all. . I don't think that I'm done, or that I can't go any further. I think that people who are doing music, regardless of whether they are rappers or not, are in a battle against that. I don't think at all that I might not make it, or that it might be too difficult to go any further. I simply think that I can keep updating my own limits, and I think I can do it until I get really old.

Sasaki. because I don't have time. If you had time, you would do it, right? If I were an office worker, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't have the time to do it. . I guess I simply have a lot of free time on my hands , and I use that free time to do things like music. . I use that spare time to do things like music. I don't get angry or anything like that at all , I simply have a lot of spare time. I'm not working, I'm sleeping around . I'm writing raps while laughing and saying, "This sucks so much" (laughs). That's what makes rap music so interesting.

Sasaki. you just look fast. If I'm fast, everyone else is too slow. If you were a rapper, I think you would agree with me. Because rapping is easy.

Sasaki. of what I said: it's a highly feasible thing, what I said. I think I do almost 1001 TP10T, what I said. If my mind simply switches and I don't think I should do something, I don't do it. 90% of the time, I do what I said I would do. 90% of the time, I do what I say I will do, and I do it quickly. I think that is totally different from others.

SasakiIf I want to study mixing in New York, but I can't get an internship, and I can't get a job at a studio, I'll just go home. . Maybe not in Tokyo, but somewhere else. I don't care where I go. I would like to visit London again. I don't know if I want to live there, though.

Sasaki. I'm simply not interested in anything. . I'm not interested in anything in Tokyo. . If I feel uncomfortable when I go back, I will leave immediately.

Sasaki: I don't think so at all (laughs). I guess it's going to happen. Well, it's irresponsible, isn't it? It's not something I can handle on my own. I'm not that kind of person. I'm not that kind of person, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Sasaki. in the schedule. . I don't know. I'm already starting school for mixing, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to that school. I'm in the process of getting all the necessary paperwork done, and if it passes, I'll finally be able to start doing what I came here to do, after 2 years. Ideally, I would like to go to school for one year, and upon graduation, I would be able to do an internship. . I can't see that happening at all, though (laughs). . If I don't get into school, there is a possibility that I will go back to Japan next month or so. I've been looking into it, but I don't have any other schools I want to go to.

Sasaki: That's right. There are people around me who have been rappers all their lives, even after they become old men, so I leave it to them. If I can support such people, I would like to. As a mixer, mixing and mastering. Also, I would like to make a crazy sound by myself. I would like to hear a sound that is really good (laughs). (laughs). Bad sound is a bad thing, isn't it? So I want to listen to something that sounds good. I want to create it myself.

Sasaki.: I guess people don't really know. Can I get a part-time job here? . In fact, you can get a part-time job the day after you arrive. In fact, you can start working the day after you arrive, and I think it's really easy to make a living. It's easy to live on a part-time job. . If you really wanted to come, you could come here without a penny. I didn't know that until I came here. I thought it would be a place where I would have to get help from my parents or something, but it wasn't like that at all. There are plenty of places to work, so it's not at all impossible, and you can come here without even thinking about it. You can come here without even thinking about the visa. There are plenty of people like that around, and I think it's okay to just go with the flow. It's really nothing to be afraid of. It's nothing to be afraid of or to be impressed by. It's really a simple thing. If you can't stay in the U.S. for 10 years, why don't you just go to London? I think it is very easy for Japanese people to live in New York or L.A. (laughs). Well, I guess you don't come here to work part-time, so it depends on what you do there. I don't think it's much different from going to Okinawa.

Sasaki. there is . I have a feeling that we will have fun, including getting married and such. There is no despair in Tokyo, but I have no expectations , nothing. Zero. I'll be old in no time, and what I can do now is a wrap. It's not really popular, but I'm sure that before long no one will take me seriously, and that's the way it's going to be. I'm sure that by then, that's not all I'll be. . maybe I'll have something to protect, and I'll do whatever it takes.