Hip hop Music of Japan

hip-hop newer form of music on japanese music scene. many felt trend pass. however, genre has lasted many years , still thriving. in fact, rappers in japan did not achieve success of hip-hop artists in other countries until late 1980s. due music world s belief japanese sentences not capable of forming rhyming effect contained in american rappers songs. there certain, well-defined structure music industry called pyramid structure of music scene . ian condry notes, viewing music scene in terms of pyramid provides more nuanced understanding of how interpret significance of different levels , kinds of success. levels follows (from lowest highest): fans , potential artists, performing artists, recording artists (indies), major label artists, , mega-hit stars. these different levels can seen @ genba, or nightclub. different families of rappers perform on stage. family collection of rap groups headed 1 of more famous tokyo acts, include number of proteges. important because key understanding stylistic differences between groups. hip-hop fans in audience ones in control of night club. judges determine winners in rap battles on stage. example of can seen battle between rap artists dabo (a major label artist) , kan (an indie artist). kan challenged dabo battle on stage while dabo mid-performance. important part of night clubs displayed @ time. showed openness of scene , fluidity of boundaries in clubs.