DJ Krush - Stepping Stones | Obnoxious Listeners

DJ Krush | Stepping Stones

Written by Nirav on June 10, 2008

>> >> DJ Krush | Stepping Stones

Useful Links:

Myspace | Wikipedia

Can you imagine the best of what hip hop has to offer lyrically mashed up with what the best international + Japanese music has to offer beat/tempo wise? That’s what I heard when I first got a listen of DJ Krush’s compilation entiled Stepping Stones - The Self-Remixed Best (2006). It’s wicked different from the U.S. based hip hop we’re used to!

If you don’t know, DJ Krush is one of the pioneers of Japanese hip hop. And if you also don’t know, hip hop is huge in Japan. They got amazing break dancers, incredibly artistic graff artists, lyrical emcees (from what I’m told, can’t understand anything besides the flow), and some amazing Deejays. They’ve been playing hip hop music close to near its conception and its been banging ever since. They caught on to the scene when in 1983 the film Wild Style dropped. Much props to DJ Krush and his contributions to hip hop overall - he’s a beast!

Seeing how DJ Krush’s own involvement in hip hop originated from the same movie, you will understand why he includes artists like Mos Def, Black Thought & ?uestlove, Aesop Rock, Company Flow, Mr. Lif, and C.L. Smooth in his compilation. Old school screams consciousness and purpose. Krush has a few solo tracks on this compilation, but most of the tracks are collaborations with various hip hop artists. I do two things with compilations/albums like these: zone out to it and work or drop it as part of my house/soul dj sets. If I had a nice car, I would add “rolling out” to my list! Would love to hear what you would do …

I’m attaching two tracks below to give you a glimpse of what this album contains. It’s hard for me to describe the tracks or the quality since its so different from the hip hop I listen to daily. But I will say that though this is different, the music and lyrics are still quality and conscious. And to me, that can bring my attention to music more than simply the “beat” (my down south fans!).

Zen Approach (Cradle Mix) ft. Black Thought

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Shinjiro (Harsh Mix) ft. Mos Def

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.