Hip to the Hop

So I use to be really into Hip hop back in my younger years. growing up in a more urban area,  I was exposed alot to the hip hop culture and I guess you could say I was the Asian kid shouting out AZN and talking very ghetto.

Thankfully that phase in my life went away, but hip hop music has always kept my interested over the years. Not so much the drugs and shooting and the “shawtys”, more so rapping in general I find very talented and usually the hip hop music I listen to is more so feel good and puts you in a good mood.

Most of the hip hop music I listen to nowadays is coming from South Korea, there are a few bands in particular that I usually keep an eye out for their next releases since the music they churn out is always a hit. Click the jump to take a listen.

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“i’ve decided to dedicate my life to akb.”

this is what acchan(maeda atsuko) had declared on the mic, tears streaming down her face when she was announced #1 by fans in a senbatsu selection.

there was an interesting interview with maeda in a written article that was translated and posted on a forum a while ago that i found very interesting (translated by wazawai6318. thanks!).

it was different than any other i’ve read; there was something real and tangible that didn’t seem rehearsed or sugar-coated.  she was asked questions about when akb48 first debuted, and the tribulations the girls had gone through just to get started.  click to read more.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation – Solanin

From the soundtrack of the movie. AKFG was the first Japanese rock band I was introduced to. I already knew of them from their Naruto opening which I liked a lot. It exploded after that with me trying to find all of theirs that I could. They’ve matured as a band and their music is a lot more complex than it once was. But I still haven’t decided if they’ve really changed that much. Maybe I’ll go more in detail with a future post.

David

‘A K B’ cookies

my professor brings this bag of cookies to class and offers me a few.  i dig in and pick up 2 cookies: the letter ‘B’ and the letter ‘K’.  i think of team B and team K from akb48 as i eat them.  i go to my desk and get ready to work, but something starts to bug me.  what about ‘A’?  my awesome, adorable, affable team A?  i want to ask for more cookies but that would be impolite.  class resumes.

an hour passes. all i can think about is getting a cookie with an ‘A’ stamped on it.  more time passes.  my professor continues to eat cookies.  there can’t be many letters left.  there are 26 letters in the alphabet and there were probably less than 20 left in the bag.  the probability of having the letter i need is dwindling with every cookie i see him devour.

class is almost over and i finally break.  i interrupt class and flat out tell him that if he comes across an ‘A’ cookie, that he should give it to me.  he nonchalantly gives me the bag and tells me that i can just have the rest.  SCORE.  i dig around and after some intense searching i finally find it.  the last remaining ‘A’ in the bag.  it was beautiful.  and delicious.

i was complete.  i scare myself.

someone new appeared in my radar

i have my group of akb48 members that i support, and they’re not based on who gets featured more than others.  it’s by their actions.  that’s how i identify and recognize people, which is why it takes me so long to put names to faces.  so whenever i see someone that stands out, whether through an interesting mannerism or a quirk, it’s easy to make a connection.

even now i occasionally have a hard time naming an akb member that’s new or stays in the background.  well, recently i’ve been noticing this new member more and more, and now she has my full attention.  she’s been a kenkyuusei(research student) since 2008 and was promoted late 2009.  click to see who she is!

enkyori poster

a single from a subgroup in akb, team PB: kashiwagi yuki, miyazawa sae, miyazaki miho, oota aika, nito moeno, takajyo aki, maeda ami.

nice song and somehow kashiwagi and takajyo manage to be even cuter.

I remember when you use to be C-ute…

C-ute is probably my favorite group in H!P right behind Morning Musume. They’re the reason I found H!P and thus began my journey of  fandom for H!P. When I first stumbled upon them they brought such a fresh look of cuteness and energy that I never seen before, with their bright smiles and their high energy music which was very refreshing at the time, C-ute stole my heart and kept impressing me with every new single that they released. They have the best set of Indie songs for a H!P group and the choreography for their songs is right up there with Morning Musume in terms of difficulty.