Mellow Japanese Rap for a Spring Day
In 2018, I stumbled on a full-page advert for Levis’ 501 jeans and I saw this handsome, confident rapper beaming love, and positive energy. I scrolled up a bit and read his name: Kid Fresino. I related to him because we were both lanky, and I was immensely jealous of the way he managed to pull off that look in baggy jeans. Also, he had this Chester Bennington vibe about him that I couldn’t shake off.
Fresino, a DJ and rapper from Saitama mixes Japanese and English on a lot of his songs. His songs are difficult to translate and that’s partly because the lyrics are more of a flow of emotion and mental imagery than traditional prose. My attempts to translate are in brackets.
In the video, we see Fresino from the waist up, presumably riding in a limousine through the Yamate Tunnel. The lights behind him are blurred but the focus is on his smile; his face obscured by shadow and illuminated by light, over and over. He sings about living life in the moment, being open and honest about your feelings.
wow play hard play hard 迫るlimit (Work and play to your limit)
dive 晴れのうちにlifeを飛ばし(Dive into the sunshine, life is for flying)
love 今も同じtime刻む秒針 (Love is the same, like the watch’s seconds hand)
no plan で遊び (Play without rules)
daylightで i wanna see (I want to see the daylight)
you and me like awesome
In the second half, we see NENE (from Yurufurwa Gang) take over. She takes a shot at the 9-to-5 culture and exhorts the importance of self-respect, and passion.
time is money 比べるやつ stupid (People saying “Time is money” are stupid)
自分の価値remember (Remember your values and self-worth)
freedomが正解 (Freedom is the right answer)
解き放てば もっと自由にやれば (Let it all go, be yourself a bit more)
自分かける電話 (Check in with yourself)
出たらいきなhurry up (You’d better hurry up)
What I love about this track is how the contrasting vibes still gel so well: you see the zen minimalism from Fresino complement the larger-than-life NENE (and her bandmate, Ryugo Ishida).
Here are a few extra links for you to read up on if you liked this video!
Fred Perry Subculture interview with Kid Fresino- includes Fresino’s musical influences
A playlist from Fresino himself, mostly on the hip-hop scene
Takahiro Kanazawa, music writer with Metropolis Magazine, reviews NENE’s career spanning the genres chill-hop, 90s pop, and psych rap.
See y’all tomorrow,
Nikhil.
Wow, what a small world we live in.