Tokyo

Despite the diversity, only a small portion of local artists have made it to the music libraries of Western listeners - at the expense of a large majority of Japanese musicians who simply get lost in translation. But times are changing. Instead of only looking at the domestic pop market, younger generations of artists have started to look overseas. They have less of a complex about it than previous generations and seem encouraged by the growing interest that other countries have in Japanese culture.

Tokyo is no exception. While much mainstream media still focuses on J-pop, the indie scene has taken shape and artists have found freedom to control their image and develop their audience in the ways they want.

Amongst Tokyo’s myriad musical playgrounds, the hip hop scene is big and active. There are many underground collectives and labels, as well as artists like JP The Wavy and Chinza Dopeness – some of it’s biggest names.

Have a listen to the 1st single from Japanese producer Mondo Grosso’s upcoming album called “In This World” featuring Hikari Mitsushima (a very popular Japanese actress who performed Mondo Grosso’s other acclaimed single “Labyrinth” in 2017), with the participation of Ryuchi Sakamoto.

French-Japanese artist Maika Loubte has joined forces with Kirinji for the catchy city pop single “薄明” (Hakumei), meaning ‘twilight’.

In the bustling Tokyo scene, loads of independent artists emerge every week and this playlist gives them some deserved exposure. Discover the haunted melodies by ylang ylang, a new single from her upcoming album, and percussive, cool new tracks by Xiangyu, Zombie Chang, and BimBamBoom.

This playlist also features some garage rock bands such as Limited Express (has Gone?) and Subarashika, a genre still very popular in Japan on the underground scene.