ARTIST OF THE MONTH

© Culture-Universal 2005
Written by Jesse Viinikainen
(Bracketed words) contain Sound Samples, be sure to check them out.

K.O.D. Motherfu*ker! The mighty mighty "King Of Diggin" alias Muro was born in Saitama area, Tokyo in the year 1970. Often referred as to being one of the pioneers of hip-hop in the late 1980's and early 1990's, Muro first got into hip-hop at the age of 12 after hearing the works of the legendary Afrika Bambaata on "Planet Rock" (released in 1981) which had a huge impact on the young Muro. Upon discovering his love for funk and hip-hop at the same time, Muro started experimenting with the turntables influenced by the godfather of hip-hop (Bambaata) before meeting his "Turntable Mentor" DJ Krush at local hip-hop parties in 1986. Looking for the perfect beat as well as working as a member of the security staff for B-Fresh (who opened for LL Cool J on his Japan tour at the time) made Muro move from his "turntable education" to being an MC and he went on to combine forces with DJ Krush to form his first hip-hop group Krush Posse the year after.

Consisting of Muro, DJ Krush and DJ Go, The Krush Posse became the first group in Japan to equal the level of American hip-hop with unique production and raps that made Japanese people proud of their own hip-hop for the first time. In 1990 , KP after few years of non-stop touring and performing appeared on the first hip-hop cd release ever in Japan "Yellow Rap Culture In Your House" and the self titled track (K.P.) became one of the first real classics in Japanese hip-hop. Going down in history Krush Posse in their time were more known for their countless live appearances than any of their recorded material and thus the group disbanded in 1992 when Krush and Muro both pursued solo careers.

(Don't Forget To My Men) & (XXX-Large Part. 1) worked as Muro's debut in the early 1993 and while Krush went on to become one of the most succesful japanese artists ever internationally, Muro formed Microphone Pager which still remains as the most influential group for Japanese rappers in their own hip-hop history. MC's Muro, Twigy, Masao, P.H. and old friend DJ Go formed the group right after Muro's debut and being the leading figure in the scene at that time Muro and his new posse were chosen to represent Japan on Tommy Boy's legendary international hip-hop compilation Planet Rap on november of 1993 (with (Kaisei Kaishi (Phillies Mix))). On their second year of activity in 1994 Pager put out early classics such as (Rapperz Are Danger) & (Don't Turn Off Your Light) which both took the game to a new level in term of rhymes, flow and production values. Smooth as well as street knowledgeable The pager with GO's smooth beats and raw delivery from Muro and Twigy inspired the futures groups such as King Giddra, Soul Scream and Buddha Brand in the years to come.

Between the Pager releases Muro had time to concentrate on his solo career and released the first hardcore hip-hop single ever in Japan (Street Life) which became so popular that even big companies like Coca-Cola and Motorola ended up hiring Muro for their own commercials of the time. During the recordings that followed Muro's success as a solo artist came a surprising decision when P.H., Masao and DJ Go decided to disband from the group leaving only Muro & Twigy to carry on the whole weight of their number one status in the country. Continuing as 2MC's in july of 1995 after numerous groundbreaking releases, Microphone Pager put out one of one the most legendary Japanese hip-hop albums in history "Don't Turn Off Your Light" which had a huge impact on the scene and worked as a starting point for the golden age to come.

All the buzz that followed the album's release and the endless performing made Muro suffer from hearing problems and he was forced to lay off the mic for a while which lead him back to his DJ education and his first mixtape release "King Of Diggin". Even though Muro had been co-producing almost all of his earlier works as a solo artist and for his group it wasn't until the end of 1995 when Muro became a fulltime producer and started experimenting with different genres to blend into hip-hop. From the basements to the big stage for the first time in a year Muro introduced his new family K.O.D.P. (King Of Diggin Productions) to the masses in the legendary event Thumpin Camp on july 7th of 1996 and signed himself a deal on Ben The Ace's Spellbound Records shortly after. The year ended up with a blast for Muro who once again was featured as the representative of Japan on a global compilation album Bomb Worldwide with (Sansha Bontai) (featuring Gore-Tex) a track that became an underground hit after the duo performed it at the event.

Muro's debut on his new label came in a form of a mini album titled "Dai San Danraku Page 97" in July of 1997 and featured members of his K.O.D.P. family such as Dev Large, Gore-Tex & DJ Watarai on classic tracks (XXX-Large Part. 2) and the smooth solo joint (Concrete Jungle). The mini album effort continued on the same lines as Muro's work on Microphone Pager but featured even more polished productions this time from Muro himself. The genius mix of different genres such as funk, jazz, soul, salsa & bossa nova on the EP and on his other works at the time made Muro appeal to more than just hip-hop heads and has ever since been called the "King Of Diggin" for only using original source vinyls for his productions. Trailing the re-launch of his own solo career Muro opened the vinyl/clothing store SAVAGE in shibuya area, tokyo and hired some of the members of his production team as staff including future superstars Gore-Tex, Macka-Chin, S-Word etc.

Aside from running his own clothing label and releasing a best of microphone pager compilation, Muro pursued his dream and built Incredible Records his own hip-hop label in the beginning of 1998 which became the home of K.O.D.P. aswell. Receiving huge support from the scene and also the fans, Muro released 2 analog singles (Dig on Summer) feat Tina & (Han-Tome) (which was also featured on the movie soundtrack "Hood OST") and took part in launching the career of Misia during the same year (now one of the most famous japanese r&b/pop artists). Muro's major label career started with a deal from the label toy's factory in the early 1999 that muro celebrated with the release of his second mini album K.M.W. (King's Most Wanted) proving his ability to create new type of diverse sounds with his every release. King's Most Wanted was a success and Muro who had become friends with Lord Finesse through his connections to Tommy Boy went straight from the release party to work on a collabo between himself and D.I.T.C. (a famous American underground group Diggin In the Crates).

The second release from his new label (Vinyl Athletes) featuring A.G. of D.I.T.C. came out during the same year and the EP combined with the music videos that were done to celebrate their friendship remains legendary. With the new millennium behind him Muro worked with the likes of Freddie Foxxx, D.I.T.C., Pete Rock and Pharoahe Monch for his first solo album and released the second single of the album (EL Carnaval) in july of 2000. A month later in august of 2000 the release of his first album Pan Rhythm Flight 11154 saw the daylight and showcased soundscapes from many different cultures and combined it all into an original and memorable experience that also spawned a succesful tour (Globe Trotters Tour 2000 with O.C. and Pharoahe Monch) to complete a very succesfull year for the K.O.D.

Five months from the albums release Muro went on to release the third single for the album (Lyrical Tyrants) feat. O.C. in january of 2001 and decided to keep a break to concentrate on producing his own original clothing lines King Of Diggin & Hustlers Convention. His live tour VHS titled Globe Trotters and the joint collabo singles (Space Funk 2001) and (Galaxy Pimp 3000) done with Nipps (the ex member of Buddha Brand) however kept Muro busy during the 2001. Ever since those days Muro decided to concentrate more on producing rather than his solo work and started backing up young artists laying down funkadelic beats for the members of K.O.D.P. and remixing for artists in many different genres domestically and also abroad. The first grand jewel of Muro's new found love for producing came when Sweeeeeet Baaaad Ass Encounter was released on june of 2002 featuring all the members of the K.O.D.P. for the first time on the same album.

Packed with allstars with equally good productions from the man of funk, the release was no doubt one of the classics of the new millennium and spawned a follow up mini album Chain Reaction only 6 months after in January of 2003 which continued from the heat that K.O.D.P. started with the release of their debut. Almost 20 years of hip-hop behind him Muro more recently has released 2 best of albums (Back II Back Vol. 1 & 2 both released in 2004) which most importantly featured all of the highlights of his career but also the re-union of his legendary group Krush Posse when DJ Krush and Muro came together to record their first song together in 12 years titled (Hallucination). To the people wondering if Microphone Pager also planned a comeback came an answer on Gore-Tex's new album Reload which featured the re-union track of Microphone Pager (Muro & Twigy) titled (Mirrorball 2004).

Hip-Hop Pioneer and a real legend in the hip-hop scene in Japan, Muro's touch and influence can be seen all over in hip-hop music in Japan. From Nitro Microphone Underground to Lunchtime Speax & Kashi Da Handsome, Muro has been responsible for launching the career of many of hip-hop's biggest and most respected names today. Even if calling Muro the successor of James Brown as the "man of funk" might be exaggerated Muro still loves the music from the heart. From his 5 hour DJ sets to constant mixtape releases even today the King Of Diggin does what he does for the love of music and especially for his love for funk.