Chiki-Chiki Lucky Dynamite Party---Friday, December 9th, 2005
Embracing the many facets of hip hop is the most common way Japanese youth express themselves. Whether it’s someone cutting on the decks, spitting wicked freestyles, or designing a fashion hip hop is looked upon as a status symbol. Another part of hip hop also making waves in Japan’s underground is the art of dancing. “The Dance” is met with much enthusiasm by participants as well as onlookers which made it all the more exciting to witness Japanese champion "Hi-to-ri De De-ki-ru-mon" perform his unique blend of unnatural shape shifting in front of a capacity crowd at Club Footprint. The club was so packed that it took over 20 minutes to clear the floor for the dancers to strut their stuff. Although dancing was the main act other local hip hop regulars like Iron Claw, Choke Sp (The Human Beatbox), and DJ Player were among the many talent performers who helped raise the roof a few notches. Can one expect anything less than awesome from a party titled Chiki-Chiki Lucky Dynamite? Not Likely.
Words and Photos by Sam Frank of The Oceanboom

Full Mode (Event)---Saturday, October 8th, 2005
This month’s Full Mode party not only brought out dancers, DJs, and lyricists, it even brought Spiderman (or someone heavily influenced by the mighty web-slinger). For the DJs, Oka and Show, it was a clash of the east coast titans. Both DJ Oka and DJ Show spun a smorgasbord of east coast rap by filling their set with artists like Method Man, Redman, EPMD, Wu-Tang Clan, 50 Cent, Common, and so on. The music selection proved fruitful with club-goers grinding to the beats throughout the night. It can be a risky endeavor sometimes for a DJ to spin the music he or she wants. If the crowd is not feeling the music then the DJ must change something up quickly in order to get people dancing, but that was not the case in early October. The cosmos were working overtime because the DJs later confessed that their sets consisted of music they wanted to hear, which, in the end was enough to keep the party going all night long. Much respect to the DJ who can create or choose music from the heart.
Words and Photos by Sam Frank of The Oceanboom

We Love Music (DJ Shadow)---Friday, Sept. 23, 2005
DJ Shadow, one of the world’s most famous DJs brought the funk to Osaka’s Mother Hall in late September. Alongside this DJ pioneer was a wide range of funk DJs who got the thousands of people in attendance to get down all through the night. This show was advertised merely by paper flyers on lamp posts throughout Osaka’s America-mura area, but the turnout was incredible. While the DJs were performing their sets the screens behind them displayed psychedelic visuals which added a tripped-out vibe to the evening. Although DJ Shadow did not have the visual set up often associated with his live performances he spun a wide range of funk classics from bands like K.C. and the Sunshine band all the way down to Parliament Funkadelic. Although the mothership could not make it that evening; nothing was able to stop the people of Osaka from hopping on board the We Love Music soul train.
Words and Photos by Sam Frank of The Oceanboom

Friend Park (Outdoor DJ Event)---August 20th, 2005
Growing up in America it seemed normal to have that end of the summer party. After watching movies like American Pie or Can’t Hardly Wait, and hearing songs like “Summertime” by Will Smith, its almost become an oddity not to have that party. Well, Japan is no different, but their summer party often involves nature, and this year’s summer bash brought hundreds of party goers somewhere deep in the mountains of Wakayama Prefecture (south of Osaka) to get their groove on. Complimented by the mountainous terrain, DJs and live performers gave the show a kind of tribal feeling not often experienced inside a club. One of the “interesting” highlights of the evening came as DJ Oka (heavy set DJ with the thin mustache) was displaying his turntablist cuts when all of the sudden 75 percent of the crowd shifted towards the north. Why you ask, because a fight broke out between two Japanese guys who were feuding over a West Coast – East Coast beef. Yes folks, beef does exist in Japan, but they call it “beefu.”
Words and Photos by Sam Frank of The Oceanboom

Sphere of Influence---Saturday, April 30th, 2005 at Club Footprint
In Japan, the last week of April is often referred to as Golden Week. It is a week of consecutive national holidays where various places around the country gear up for festivals in celebration of culture and tradition. Since Golden Week was around the corner the DJs of Club Footprint seized the holiday opportunity by housing a special Full Mode party which included a special live performance from Japanese rapper Sphere of Influence (the latin-looking rapper opposite the guy in orange and blue). Although Sphere’s brother is Japan’s top-rated hip hop phenomenon Zeebra (the DMX of Japanese rap) Sphere has created enough of his own waves in the underground hip hop scene to escape the shadow of his brother’s success. This became evident the instance Sphere stepped on stage to a welcoming applause from the crowd. The crowd’s deafening roar did not lose a decibel throughout Sphere’s set, and by evening’s end Sphere had been mobbed by over 50 people longing for his autograph. Thanks to Full Mode Productions and Sphere’s dynamic rap skills Golden Week 2005 started off on an energetic note.
Words and Photos by Sam Frank of The Oceanboom