Kick the Can Crew - Vitalizer 14 February 2002
Vitalizer was the debut album of Kick the Can Crew, a rap/hip-hop trio consisting of:1. Kreva2. MCU3. LittleAll three have had successful solo careers since. I’ll be uploading albums by each as I continue to go through my collection. Anyways, back to Vitalizer.The album was a surprisingly popular hit upon release, receiving commercial and critical acclaim. The early 2000’s were a transitional period for hip-hop and rap in Japan. First you had 90’s groups like Rip Slyme and Dragon Ash who were influenced heavily by reggae groups a decade prior. Then you get to the early 2000’s when the hip-hop genre began to overlap with and borrow elements from electronic Shibuya-kei music, which is why you hear such elements in Vitalizer. And now in recent years you have artists like Eccy and Zeebra creating music that takes many cues from Western rap as its grown in the past decade. This plants Vitalizer in an interesting period in the progression of Japanese rap and hip-hop.Personally, Vitalizer is one of my favorite albums and represents the pinnacle of Japanese hip-hop and rap from the early 2000’s. I hope you all enjoy it! And as always I welcome any requests.Note: Sorry to anyone waiting for me to upload Crimson by Nanase Aikawa. So far I have not been able to find my copy.