DJ Krush Demonstrates

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Hideaki Ishi (石英明), commonly known as DJ Krush, was born in 1962 in Tokyo. He's a producer and DJ known for his atmospheric instrumental productions which incorporates sound elements from nature along with extensive use of jazz and soul samples. After watching the hip-hop film "Wild Style", he was inspired, bought some turntables, and started to learn the art of turntablism. In the mid-1980s, along with DJ's and emcees like DJ Muro, he formed the Krush Posse, which made numerous appearances as a group during the rest of 1980's into the 1990's and earned recognition by becoming the first DJ in Japan to perform with live musicians. For about seven years, he produced tracks and remixes for other artists such as Monday Michiru (whom was also an emcee and singer of his during sets and an instrumental force for Krush Posse) until he finally released his first album "Strictly Turntablized" in 1994 under Mo' Wax Records which is known as the first trip-hop album ever released. It contained the hit single "Kemuri" which caught the ear of well-known hip hop DJs such DJ Premier. This album was followed by his first commercial release "Krush" in 1995, which stated his presence in the scene, and he has since released eight more. He has had recording contracts with Chance Records, Ninety Nine Records, Mo' Wax (he was the first Japanese artist to join), Apollo and Sony/Columbia. He works internationally as a producer, re-mixer, DJ and recording artist, bringing the unique flavour of Japanese hip hop to the world.

Ishi was born in 1962 in Tokyo. Ishi dropped out of school at an early age and joined a local gang, and a few years later, the Yakuza. Early into his career as a Yakuza underling, Ishi discovered a severed finger wrapped in paper on his desk. Later, after discovering that it had belonged to his best friend, he decided to leave the Yakuza and cut ties with the criminal underworld.

One day in the early 1980's, Ishi went to the movies with his girlfriend and saw the film "Wild Style", the first hip-hop motion picture directed by Charlie Ahearn. It was here that he got the inspiration to become a hip-hop musician and firm decision to become a DJ. The day after seeing this movie, he headed to instrument shops looking for equipment. At this time the term "mixer" was unknown to most of Tokyo's electronic store salesmen. After having a hard time buying the things he needed, Ishi started his career as one of the first hip hop pioneers in Japan.

Aside from being considered one of the pioneers of Japanese hip hop, Ishi has established himself as one of the most respected artists and producers in the hip-hop industry, both in Japan and abroad. One of the reasons for this is that he approaches the music with a very humble perspective, and by not allowing over three decades of success to hinder his abilities, he constantly seeks out new styles and sources of inspiration, which expand his craft further. This kind of attitude is the explanation for his reluctance to identify his music with any particular genre, for it would place limits on his listeners and on his talents. He has been regarded as ambient, trip hop, some combination of the two, and hip-hop. DJ Krush prefers to exercise an ideological distance from the genres he is usually grouped into, while maintaining a healthy appreciation for all music forms and styles.

Keywords: DJ, interview, Krush