DJ Kentaro Interview
March 10th, 2010 | By Big Dom
He was the 2002 DMC World Champion and holds court as the only participant of the prestigious DJ battle to ever achieve a perfect score. DJ Kentaro is, without doubt, one of the world’s most technically gifted turtablists. Headed to Australia later this month for an exclusive DJ/AV show in Sydney, Rhyme & Reason caught up with the Japanese spinstrumentalist for a quick Q&A…
The Japanese appear to have a fierce love for Hip-Hop and its sprawling sub-cultures, and are perhaps the largest consumers of Hip-Hop outside the US. Why do you think the Japanese identify so strongly with Hip-Hop culture?
Well, we are islanders, so we’re always curious about what’s happening outside of Japan. And plus, now there’s the Internet, so it’s not hard to get info on what is going on outside of Japan anymore - which is [encouraging] more Japanese Hip-Hop lovers. Today, Japanese Hip-Hop is getting bigger and bigger compared to American Hip-Hop, including the sale of CDs. People are more interested in their own Hip-Hop these days. Not to mention the MC battle - Ultimate MC Battle (UMB) - is now super huge these days, even with Pop/Hip-Hop acts wanting to enter to earn respect. There are a few regional [qualifying rounds] around Japan and all of them are really big, all at big venues, sold out gigs - the final in Tokyo (sometimes in Osaka) is especially huge, with sold-out tickets and thousands of fans showing up. And the DVD of the final sells loads, too. So people’s interests are heading towards the local scene these days, for sure.
You made a spectacular debut on the world stage when you earned the World DMC Championship title in 2002. Furthermore, you were the first Asian artist to win that title. What impact did your win have on the Hip-Hop scene in Japan?
Well, surely that was the biggest news that year for Japan. Loads of media talked about my winning the DMC Championship and loads of magazine had me on their covers. I was featured in many TV shows, cable shows and even mainstream channels, many festivals, radio shows, fashion scenes, etc… So it was like “Wow!” I became a celebrity in a day!
Word is you’re fast at work on your next album. What can you share with us about the project and how it will differ from Enter?
It will be really different from my 1st record Enter. I can’t say too much yet since I am still brainstorming the whole picture of my next one, but it will be more featuring my original core - which is more towards the cuts and paste method.
With regards to your live shows, I understand you’ve been working hard to incorporate a more visual dimension to your performance. In what ways are you trying to achieve that visual dimension?
Right now, we are collaborating with Soundspectrum Corp. from USA. We are doing a collaboration with WHITECAP visualizer. And we will be finally doing the collaboration show in May this year in Tokyo - which I am so excited about. This lets us do audio/visual on the exact beat, live, which I was looking forward to happening for a long time.
What can Sydneysiders expect from DJ Kentaro when you take the stage on 27th March?
Well, I will make sure everyone has fun on that night, I will do my new routines, thinking of dropping some new tunes as well. Please come say hello to me! It will be a great night for sure!
You’re teaming up with Nixon to release your own wristwatch later in the year. How did that collaboration come about?
Well, I have been really good friends with Team Nixon and it was just really natural to be involved with them. I live in Japan, so I was like, ‘Can I be your representative in Japan?’ I often did modeling for their photo sessions for magazines and such - which were all fun!!
DJ Kentaro performs live at The Forum in Sydney on 27th March. Tickets are available now from Moshtix.
