Like many gifted musicians, the music of DJ Krush defies simple classification. To call him a hip-hop artist, for example, would be to focus on only one aspect of his complex musical personality. Club DJ/producer might be more accurate, but the fact is that the man and his music are unique – a cop-out, to be sure, but an eminently sensible description, as those who know and love Krush’s hypnotic and hauntingly beautiful soundscapes will attest. Krush was born in Tokyo in 1962 and gravitated towards towards Japan’s nascent club music/hip hop scene while in his late teens. In 1987 he formed the group Krush Posse, which soon gained a reputation as one of Japan’s best and most serious hip-hop acts, at a time when hip-hop and rap were still very much considered novelties on the fringe of the Japanese music scene. Krush emerged as a solo act after the group broke up in 1992, and he soon developed a strong reputation on the international club-music scene. Perhaps Krush’s best overall effort is his 2001 album,
Zen, in which he uses a rich palette of tonal colors to paint a powerfully austere, sometimes disturbing picture of the fin-de-millennium world. An undisputed chill-out classic that skirts the boundary between hip-hop and ambient dub,
Zen was named Best Electronica Album at the 2002 AIFM Awards. Krush remains very much in demand, working as a producer, remixer and DJ and doing music for TV and movie soundtracks as well as TV commercials.
Like many gifted musicians, the music of DJ Krush defies simple classification. To call him a hip-hop artist, for example, would be to focus on only one aspect of his complex musical personality. Club DJ/producer might be more accurate, but the fact is that the man and his music are unique – a cop-out, to be sure, but an eminently sensible description, as those who know and love Krush’s hypnotic and hauntingly beautiful soundscapes will attest. Krush was born in Tokyo in 1962 and gravitated towards towards Japan’s nascent club music/hip hop scene while in his late teens. In 1987 he formed the group Krush Posse, which soon gained a reputation as one of Japan’s best and most serious hip-hop acts, at a time when hip-hop and rap were still very much considered novelties on the fringe of the Japanese music scene. Krush emerged as a solo act after the group broke up in 1992, and he soon developed a strong reputation on the international club-music scene. Perhaps Krush’s best overall effort is his 2001 album,
Zen, in which he uses a rich palette of tonal colors to paint a powerfully austere, sometimes disturbing picture of the fin-de-millennium world. An undisputed chill-out classic that skirts the boundary between hip-hop and ambient dub,
Zen was named Best Electronica Album at the 2002 AIFM Awards. Krush remains very much in demand, working as a producer, remixer and DJ and doing music for TV and movie soundtracks as well as TV commercials.
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