Testimony 4Yoshifumi Egawa a.k.a YOPPI
(Director, Hombre Niño)
I'll get goosebumps the day I'm forced to watch that live performance after seven years of blanks."
. Could you tell us about the first time you met the members of NITRO and what was the situation like?
Yoshifumi Egawa (hereinafter Egawa):Maybe it was Tora first. I think Tora was working part-time at a monjayaki restaurant and happened to visit that restaurant. I knew him originally through a connection, like being the junior of a skater friend of mine in Ueno. I also met MACKA-CHIN when I was working with Mr. Magara (current M.V.P. director, Naotake Magara) and others at the launch of Fat Beats (a long-established record store from New York) in Tokyo. I still see S-WORD and DABO at various places and say, "Oh, hello.
. As I expected, the timing of our encounters and the way we interact with each other are mixed (laughs).
Egawa:I was thinking of SUIKEN as a big guy who has a lot of charm when he talks, and BIGZAM as a big guy who is scary... . That's a lie.
(laughs). So you are involved with all of them?
Egawa:No, actually, I have not talked much with DELI-kun alone. I think I met Fukami (XBS) when NITROW started and HECTIC (the store and brand that Egawa was developing at the time, realmad HECTIC) was handling the products, or something like that.
A: At the height of the backstreet scene, many fans must have found it refreshing to see clothes produced by Shibuya-based NITRO being sold at HECTIC on the Harajuku promenade.
Egawa:At that time, we didn't really know what the backstreets were like (laughs). I started HECTIC at the age of 22 while skateboarding, and originally selected items I bought, but after I started making my own original items, I re-branded the shop. I was thinking outside of Shibuya and Harajuku, so I think it was easier for them to talk to me. There weren't many stores at the time that had a strong sports flavor, with graffiti and clothes made by rappers in a store with a basketball goal, and no such boundaries, so I think NITROW fit in well.
You were a musician who was also energetic in the direction of fashion, a style of activity that was not seen back then as it is today.
Egawa:Yes, that's right. I think NITRO was starting to do what Kanye West is doing now. I think that NITRO was a pioneer who managed to be a rapper and a brand at the same time. That is why what Kanye is doing doesn't seem new to me at all. I was also a DJ, but I didn't have the mentality to be a front man or sing on stage (laughs).
I wonder why there are so many commonalities between "level music" and "street fashion".
Egawa:I wonder if it's a perspective thing. . there is no anger or something to appeal to for me (laughs). But I love people who are sending out a message, or who are angry about something and are making a point, and I like people who have that kind of passion, maybe.
In the long time you have known them, have you had many opportunities to see them all live?
Egawa:No, it was my first one-man show after the reunion; I had bought NITRO records, but I had never seen them live (laughs).
Do any of NITRO's sound sources or lyrics leave a lasting impression on you?
Egawa:No , not at all.
What? (Laughs)
Egawa:Not at all, but I liked the voices of Tora, DELI-kun, and Fukami-kun. From those days .
Have you changed your relationship with NITRO between now and then?
Egawa:I talk more to everyone these days. At my age, I'm finally getting to know them (laughs). When we were younger, we were both more indolent, and I was never very comfortable, so it was impossible for us to drink together.
But you were able to attend the concert after the reunion, weren't you?
Egawa:Yes . Did the tiger invite you? He said, "Just let me know if you are coming or not! If you don't come, we'll give the guest slot to someone else." He said, "No, of course you're going to come" (laughs). But the day I was asked to see that live performance after 7 years blank, I got goosebumps. . If I could, I would like to interview the young people of today to find out how they felt when they saw that live performance.
