I discovered this little gem last week, and that Saturday night I went for the first time. I didn't have my camera with me, so it felt too bland to write about it, but the party was poppin'! I met a lot of new people that night, including Ati, a Spanish guy that works for a Japanese tea company. Everybody was supernice, including the owner, Gin-san, who went to Jamaica 7 times because of his love for reggae. He had great stories about his travels.
Gin-san:
last night's DJ (7" 45 RPM all night!):
Last night I strolled down there again. It wasn't as hype as last week, but I was basically hangin' out with the locals, the vibe is real mellow, I like that a lot. I passed Gin-san a mix-cd of mine, because I would love to get my DJ on there sometimes. My main thing is hiphop, but I got tons of reggae as well, so I think he'll hook me up with a gig soon.
He introduced me to Hibi AKA Hibikilla, a reggae artist. We had really nice conversation, about Japanese and Western culture, our mutual feelings about globalization...all kinds of stuff.
He told me he went on a honeymoon with the Mrs. to L.A. and Jamaica in 2007. He hooked up with a guy in L.A. from Japanese descent and did a collabo track with, and we talked about how Japanese people in the US were treated after WOII. I already knew what was up with that, which he appreciated a lot, but a lot of people have no idea, since it's not really covered in school. Man, that stuff is bad news. Racism towards Japanese people was really really bad, people were convicted of basically being Japanese, and there were CONCENTRATION CAMPS (!!!!) in the US where they were thrown into to rot. That track I mentioned earlier is about that forgotten part in history, it's called 'Go for Broke':
dammit what up with these embedded Mp3 players. gonna fix it ASAP. sorry.
Then they went to Jamaica, and my man lost his wallet at LAX!! So they basically had no money over there. They were worried at first, but the fact that they were broke over there made it an awesome experience, gettin to feel the genuine warmth and hospitality from the locals, that helped him out with everything. Of course, his love for reggae music opened a lot doors. When they got back to LAX, to go home to Japan, it turned out his wallet was found and dropped at the lost&found. Jah Bless!!
Another thing we talked about was ganja in Japan, and how strict the laws are. Hibi had a buddy that went to jail for 2 years for carrying 10 grams of weed, with no intent to distribute. I knew it was strict over here, but not that strict!! Hibi told me that he could have had his sentence reduced if he apologized in court, but he didn't. He said he felt he had done nothing wrong and rather serve the full bid than to apologize. Some serious 'no loss of face' ish right there. Another thing people don't realize is that the strict regulation is a heritage from the US occupation after WOII. The use of hemp (大麻, meaning the great hemp plant), smoking it during Buddhist rituals but also using it to manufacture clothing etc., has been an important part of Japanese culture in the olden days.
so yeah, I had a really great time last night, with some wholesome conversations, which I don't really get to have a lot in Japan. Hibi also hooked me up with his demo CD, which includes instrumentals and acapellas, so I'll get my reeeeemix on!
Hibikilla & Hassle:
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