Music Now: An Ikinoii Mixtape For You.

Lately I've been buying and listening to a lot of R&B, J-urban and hip hop, so I think I'll focus on that for this new ikinoii mixtape. Included in this version are tracks by Misia, Twenty4-7, Snoop Dogg, my favorite track off Mariah's new CD, Angie Stone, Teriyaki Boyz, Satomi', Miss Monday, Kato Miriya, Ray J. and DJ Komori. Enjoy.

TERIYAKI BOYZ "Zock On" featuring PHARRELL & BUSTA RHYMES.

This track is crazy. Back in a big way is the first Japanese hip hop group to go

international. After The Fast and The Furious III: Tokyo Drift made them huge, the Bape Sounds recording artists are not showing signs of letting up. They follow up their single, I Still Love H.e.r., which featured Kanye West with this Neptunes produced track. Having Pharrell and Busta Rhymes kicking lyrics on it certainly won’t hurt sales either. If your in Tokyo, head over to the Shibuya bape store Go Ape!, they may still have some of those limited edition Teriyaki Boyz shirts.

Springroove '08.

Springroove is a massive annual event that brings the hottest U.S. hip hop & R&B acts to Japan. As good as I thought last year’s lineup was, the 2008 version is even better. Hitting stages throughout Japan this year will be Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Keyshia Cole & Sean Kingston with Bape presenting Kanye West, N.E.R.D., Teriyaki Boyz and my girl, DJ Kaori. Bananas. The Tokyo stop is Saturday, April 5 at Makuhari Messe. Virtually all of the artists are doing solo dates as well.

For example, Neyo is performing April 1st at 7PM at Akasaka Blitz, tickets are ¥8,000 & ¥10,000 for the 7PM show; while Rihanna & Keyshia Cole take the stage at Zepp Osaka on Thursday, April 3rd and Sunday April 6th. Ticketsrange from ¥7,500 to ¥15,000 for those shows. Sean Kingston is making solo stops in Fukuoka, Nagoya and Osaka.

For full line ups and info hit the link below or call Creativeman 03-3462-6969 or their Springroove hotline at 0180-993-050. This is one of, if not the, premier event to hit Japan each year. Don’t miss out.

Springroove '08.