Bennie K - Japana-rhythm 9 November 2005
Before deciding what to upload I always search NyaaTorrents to make sure I’m not about to upload a duplicate of something. So when I searched the audio section today for ‘bennie k’ I was honestly shocked that nothing came up. I know the urban-pop/rap hasn’t released any original material in four years, but I still thought some of their music would already be here. In fact, truthfully, I mistakeningly anticipated that most of their discography would already be here and I would upload something by another artist.Either I misjudged Bennie K’s popularity likely or I am out of touch with the tastes of most people incredibly likely, or both undeniable true. Whoops.For those unfamiliar with Bennie K, they are the duo of Yamamoto Yukiyo and Yamamoto Chieko—unrelated—better known as Yuki and Cico. Their formation resulted from a series of fortunate coincidences. Both had a passion for music from a young age and that would lead both of them to Los Angeles, California in 1999. Fourteen year-old Yuki was in the city studying dance and taking formal vocal lessons to improve her singing. The twenty-one year old Cico was in Los Angeles at the same time attempting to make a career for herself in rap and hip-hop music. Yuki just happened to be staying at the home of Cico’s aunt, where the two first met. The two quickly became close friends despite their age difference.In 2000 they returned to Japan separately, each intending to pursue a solo career. In December 2000 Yuki and Cico met each other again at a Christmas music festival. That is when they decided to form a duo, and they sealed their partnership in an interesting way. The two traveled together to Fushimi Inari Taisha, a famous shrine in Kyoto. Their they prayed for future success at the temple of Inari, a Shinto god associated with prosperity. On the way back they crossed the nearby Gojou Bridge, which is the center of a Japanese folk-tale that would give the duo their name. The story goes that the monk Benkei stood at Gojou Bridge and fought every swordsman that attempted to pass. Benkei defeated nine-hundred ninety-nine warriors. But his thousandth opponent, Ushiwakamaru, finally defeated Benkei. Humbled, Benkei joined Ushiwakamaru and the two warriors traveled together and had legendary success as a duo. This story inspired Yuki and Cico so much that they initially considered using the name ‘Benkei and Ushiwakamaru’, but ultimately they shortened it, turning the former name into ‘Bennie K’ also a reference to American musician Ben E. King.Bennie K signed with a label and released their first single in less than one month.However, they were not immediately successful. Early critics felt that Yuki was under-achieving as a vocalist and that their respective age difference would make it difficult to market the duo. Bennie K’s first two albums, Cube 2002 and Essence 2003, caused little fan-fare and were not major successes by any measure. But the following year was pivotal. Not only did their single Sunrise debut in the top ten on the Oricon charts, their third album, Synchronicity, debuted at number five and would remain in the top one-hundred for the rest of the year. Bennie K had become had a critical a commercial success.Who knows what happened in that span of one year, but the difference in quality between Essence and Synchronicity is stark and unmistakable. The former is a mediocre pop album. The latter is an energetic blend of pop, rap, longue music, hip-hop, R&B, enka—a wonderful thematic synthesis. This incorporation of other genres would continue on their future albums, extending so far as to include American Country—that is rare.Of their five studio albums I decided to upload Japana-rhythm, their fourth, because I personally consider it their best. Their compilation albums are great introductions for anyone unfamiliar with Bennie K, but instead of those I also chose Japana-rhythm because the entire album has an over-arching thematic structure based around the four seasons; compilations disrupt its melodic flow. It is also their only release that ever debuted at number one on the Oricon charts—I’m not counting their first compilation album, which also debuted at the top spot.Sorry about the later than usual upload today. Requests are welcome as always, and I hope you enjoy the album!