(Part of Negroes in Tokyo)

If you were a hip-hop fan in 1993, you probably heard De La Soul’s 4th album, Buhloone Mindstate. And you probably got to Track 6, ‘Long Island Wildin’’, and freaked out when you heard a bunch of Japanese MCs rapping.

If you were already a Japanese rap fan, you realized the historical significance of the moment: this was the first time a Japanese rap act had ever been featured on a US major label release. This was a hell of an achievement:

If you didn’t understand Japanese, you probably thought they were saying something interesting and uniquely Japanese. You might have thought they were bringing you some real heavy Japanese culture, some of that mix of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ or whatever. Talking about breakdancing samurais or something. Maybe ninja assassin schoolgirls. But whatever it was, they must have been bringing that heat. Right?

Well, they weren’t. It’s actually a really stupid song. But hold on, let’s back up a second, because seriously:

What were a bunch of Japanese rappers doing on a De La Soul record anyway?

I’m not entirely sure how it happened, but here’s what I do know:

First off, there are two acts on the record: Takagi Kan, and Scha Dara Parr, which is a group consisting of MC Ani, MC Bose, and DJ Shinco. I’ll be mostly talking about Scha Dara Parr here.

SDP started up in July of 1988, and did their first show in October of that year. Less than a year later, in March of 1989, De La Soul released 3 Feet High and Rising, featuring the single “Me Myself and I”:

And that summer, they were booked for a tour of four (really expensive) concert dates in Japan.

And somehow, even though they’d only been performing for about a year, Scha Dara Parr got picked up as an opening act for De La Soul’s tour. That’s probably when this picture was taken:

Note the shirts they’re wearing, with the Major Force logo. Major Force was the first real hip-hop label in Japan, and was responsible for a lot of classics in the Japanese scene.

Here’s a close-up of the shirt:

Anyway, that’s how the two groups met. At some point over the next four years, Scha Dara Parr were invited out to New York to jump on a De La track. I’m not exactly sure why or how this happened, but suffice to say that SDP and De La Soul are a pretty good fit. Maybe I’ll write about that some time in the future.

Anyway, on to the song.

The first verse is by Takagi Kan, one of the first people to rap successfully in Japanese. Incidentally, he’s also one of the founding members of Major Force, which would explain the connection between him, SDP, and De La Soul. His verse is actually pretty good, but it’s also 8 bars of name dropping Japanese brands like Sony, Honda, and Toyota, and the word play doesn’t really translate well into English.

So instead, I want to give you, in English for the (probably not) first time ever, a breakdown of what MCs Ani and Bose were actually saying:

Long Island Wildin’ (Scha Dara Parr Verse)

One (one!) two (two!) three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve
Took a thirteen hour flight to get to New York (Oh yeah!)
Ani, Shinco, Bose (Oh shit!)
Look, it’s Prince Paul, Maseo, Pos and Dove!
They’re saying something in English! (Huh?) Oh, they want us to rap
And come to the studio at 2. Yes, okay!
We’re of course proper and on time
What? Nobody is here yet
After about five hours, (Yeah, what’s up?)
They roll through
Before we know it, we’re in the studio
“Yes Yes Y’all, We Don’t Stop!” …So, guys, how was that?

…and that’s it.

So basically, their verse consists of
1. counting
2. saying everybody’s name
3. difficulties understanding English
4. people being late to the studio
5. reflecting on the good job they did

Uh, now that I re-read that list, this basically sounds like mostly every rap song, ever.

…This is kinda awkward.

So, uh, this wasn’t the dumbest De La Soul song ever. It’s actually just sort of a normal rap tune, except in Japanese. Sorry, I lied. I’m going to stop here and write something better for the next installment.

If you need me in the meantime, I’ll be listening to Gucci Mane.

talk to me if you like: @dexdigi