m-flo are one of the biggest names in Japanese hip-hop, and became such by bringing together foreign influences and Japanese sensibilities. The group's nucleus of composer/ trackmaker/producer Taku and rapper Verbal first became friends while the two were attending a Tokyo based international high school. Later Taku moved to California, where he worked as a DJ and began composing. At this juncture the ethnically Korean Verbal went to school in Boston, where he also got deeper into rap music. Verbal also got into Christianity, so much that he majored in theology, but his friend Taku convinced him to return to Tokyo to pursue music. In 1998 they hooked up again in Tokyo, and brought into their musical circle the Japanese-Columbia female singer Lisa. Lisa had already begun working in music, including serving as vocalist for the group Ram Jam World. The group released their first song “Been So Long” as a 12-inch single on an indie label, and were soon picked up by the Avex-affiliated Rhythm Zone label. From Avex they released a string of hit singles, and then their debut album
Planet Shining, which went to #6 on the Oricon album chart. The group followed this success up with the re-mix album
The Replacement Percussionists and a sold-out tour. The group also toured in Korea, where they were well received. Their wide ranging popularity led to a number of side projects and collaborations, including Taku working on music by major stars like
Hikaru Utada, Crystal Ka...
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m-flo are one of the biggest names in Japanese hip-hop, and became such by bringing together foreign influences and Japanese sensibilities. The group's nucleus of composer/ trackmaker/producer Taku and rapper Verbal first became friends while the two were attending a Tokyo based international high school. Later Taku moved to California, where he worked as a DJ and began composing. At this juncture the ethnically Korean Verbal went to school in Boston, where he also got deeper into rap music. Verbal also got into Christianity, so much that he majored in theology, but his friend Taku convinced him to return to Tokyo to pursue music. In 1998 they hooked up again in Tokyo, and brought into their musical circle the Japanese-Columbia female singer Lisa. Lisa had already begun working in music, including serving as vocalist for the group Ram Jam World. The group released their first song “Been So Long” as a 12-inch single on an indie label, and were soon picked up by the Avex-affiliated Rhythm Zone label. From Avex they released a string of hit singles, and then their debut album
Planet Shining, which went to #6 on the Oricon album chart. The group followed this success up with the re-mix album
The Replacement Percussionists and a sold-out tour. The group also toured in Korea, where they were well received. Their wide ranging popularity led to a number of side projects and collaborations, including Taku working on music by major stars like
Hikaru Utada,
Crystal Kay, Ryuichi Sakamoto and
Yumi Matsutoya, and Verbal working with the Korean superstar female idol group S.E.S. One S.E.S. member, Shoo, was actually born in Yokohama and speaks Japanese, which helped allow the group to attain some level of popularity in Japan in addition to their mega-success in Korea. Verbal has also worked with the pop duos Heartsdales and Halicali, and up and coming foreign idol Christina Milian. In 2001 the group released
Expo Expo, and again released a remix album and toured. In 2002 Lisa released the self-produced single “Move On”. The song it seems was an announcement of sorts, as soon after she announced that she was leaving m-flo to concentrate on a solo career. After Lisa's departure m-flo have continued on as a duo, often recording with other artists. They developed a concept of sorts, the “m-flo loves **** ” series, with a guest artist’s name filling in the blank, such as “m-flo loves
Akiko Wada”. In May 2004 they released the CD
Astromantic and followed it with a related DVD.
Astromantic was an album full of collaborations, including cuts with such major artists as
BoA,
Chemistry,
Double, Kenji Furuya (of
Dragon Ash), Ken Yokoyama (of
Crazy Ken Band), and
Maki Nomiya (of
Pizzicato Five). Since going solo Lisa has released
Juicy Music in April 2003,
Gratitude in June 2004, and an album of cover versions, mostly American 1980’s hits like Prince, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, called
Melody Circus in April 2005.
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