現役大学生によるウェブメディア「SUBLYRICS」に注目。

What is SUBLYRICS?

In addition to lyric’s translation and commentary on hip-hop/rap music, which I first started in the media, I now work with several writers to write and introduce news, interviews and columns about overseas artists.

Hip-hop/rap music has a much larger amount of text and information than other music genres. There are many “thoughts, messages, background stories” in it. As the name SUBLYRICS (Subtitle + Lyrics) suggests, the media started out by bringing the “Lyric” of hip-hop/rap music beyond language barriers and into detail, including the background of music.

In addition, there are many interviews conducted in the United States and other countries, but there’re not many opportunities for these to be conveyed to domestic listeners in Japanese, so along with introducing the interviews, I have also published a series called “Rappers Dictionary” which covers everything from the rapper’s upbringing to the present.

Hip-hop artists have a side that represent where they were born and raised and tell their own life, so if you don’t know where they came from or where they grew up, it’s difficult to see what the artist wants to say and the true roots of the artist, and by understanding them from their birth, you’ll be able to know their true charm.

As streaming services are becoming popular and music overflows, many people aren’t sure about what to listen to. For these people, we have a series introducing the artists and songs that should be listened to now, which artists are popular and interesting.

We will continue to focus on new releases and records as we increase the number of series.

The Japanese translation of SUBLYRICS is characterized by the detailed explanation of each lyric.

Lyrics often include culture, messages, and background, but you can understand them only when you know slang, local street names, friend names, and other personal information.

Since I think that there’re many things that you can’t understand without knowing the person, whether you understand English or not, and that many of the messages in hip-hop music are in lyrics, I focus on detailed explanations when translating the lyrics.

What is the root of SUBLYRICS, which you started when you were in the second year of university?

I started listening to hip-hop when I was in fourth grade, and I used to listen to Kanye West, R&B and other songs from the late 2000s. At that time, YouTube was just starting to catch on, and I gradually got hooked on it by listening to a variety of songs through the recommendation function.

I’ve been focusing on lyrics a lot now, but when I first started listening, I was fascinated by the sound, the rhythm, the culture, the appearance and so on. I remember that the rhythm was shocking to me and it was musically interesting.

At that time, I didn’t understand English, hip-hop culture, or history, but by reading a few Japanese media and blog articles, I gradually began to understand that each of them were struggling to start rap to upbring and expressing themselves and talk about their lives through music by looking into lyrics. After studying English and improving my comprehension, I realized that many of the messages they wanted to deliver were contained in lyrics.

Recently, there’re many rap songs that emphasize enjoyment such as mumble rap, and of course I like them, but I think the lyrics of hip hop music are not only rhythm and fun, but also inspiring words.

I came across something more inspiring than ever before. That’s why I wanted to tell this appeal to as many people as possible, and in the high school I made up my mind to start doing media when I became a university student.

As I realized, I wanted to send hip-hop messages to more people, so I started web media as a way to convey my feelings.

Whose song did you translate first?

It was J.Cole’s “Love Yourz”, which inspired me a lot when I was still in the high school.

In the song, he sings, “I sometimes compare myself with others, but I can’t be happy if I don’t like what I have.”. Despite his success and enormous wealth as an artist, he says so. When you think of hip-hop, you may think of it as a glittering chain or a luxury car, but I think he’s an artist who can reverse that image. Of course, showing off chains and luxury cars is also based on history and each person’s background.

In an album based on the concept of “True happiness” and what he felt when he saw success in front of him on eve he had it, he said that he was not happy because he was supposed to have the happiness everyone had in mind.

“True happiness is about to love yourself, not to compare with others.”

I was so inspired by these words as a high school kid.

Hip-hop is already mainstream in the West, but how do you think it will affect the Japanese scene?

I can’t say I know all of it, but I think Japanese hip-hop scene is gradually gaining momentum. Recently, there seems to be a rap project by voice actors called Hypnosis Mike. It may not be exactly hip hop, but I have an impression that rap itself is widespread.

I like hip-hop culture and the messages in music, but I am glad that this kind of content has started to be created as a way to learn hip-hop culture and history. That’s why I want to use this website to inform people who have started to listen to rap music that “Hip hop has this kind of charm.”. While the entrance to hip-hop is surely expanding, I would like to convey the history of hip-hop and the feelings of artists to those who come in.

I think J-pop or songs by idols are of course attractive, but I have come to feel that the music that is shown on TV in Japan is superficial after I started to listen to, for example, Conscious Rapper, who talks deeply about politics, social issues and his thoughts, how African Americans were treated, and his poor background in the music.

Of course, I don’t think they’re bad at all, and as I realize there were some attractive reasons, I want to listen to the rappers’ real messages more, and I came to think it was important to pay attention to that.

As I also learned about American political issues and racism through hip-hop, I think it’s a great medium for communicating messages.
It might be difficult to listen to the news, but it’s easier to listen to music to understand these issues.

What is the reason of existence of Sublyrics while there’re other music media?

Sublyrics doesn’t aim for making money.

In order to maintain its operations, there’re websites in the world where articles are written for so-called “Buzz” such as gossip and scandals, but Sublyrics places emphasis on hip-hop culture and artist messages that it really wants to convey.

For this reason, I think one of the attractive points of this site is that it delivers in-depth information.

What are your prospects for the future?

I’m 21 years old now, but I know many DJs and sound producers in my age group.

The people who actually hold the microphone must have their own stories, and from now on, I would like to interview hip-hop people in Japan as well as overseas about their backgrounds and their thoughts on hip-hop, and introduce songs focusing on artists who have not yet seen the light of day.

To achieve this, I need to increase the influence of my media, and I want to try various things while increasing my followers.

I want many people to know the appeal of hip-hop so that they can work hard, and also, to focus on the deep culture and message.

https://sublyrics.info/
Instagram/Twitter–@thesublyrics