Review Summary: Promising Japanese rapper's finest moment heads a new movement
In the outskirts of Tokyo city, there sits a town where the bright lights and attractions of central Tokyo do not reach or matter. This area is Kita, a region notorious for its harsh lifestyle, hard drugs, and low income rates. You name it, it's probably able to be found there. Drugs, crime, suicide, prostitutes, gambling...It's all there in abundance. Many Tokyoites are genuinely terrified to go there, even if by American or European standards it's not that dangerous to a common passerby. Still despite this, there exists many people whose lives are intertwined with this area, much like American inner cities, and its effects have shaped them in obvious ways. One such person is KOHH, a rapper born as Yuki Chiba in Kita to drug addicted parents, one of whom would commit suicide early on his childhood. His music reflects a rarely seen side to Japanese lifestyle, and he embraces the image of a hardened street figure, a side Japanese people rarely ever show or embrace.
"Dirt" is his third studio album, released on October 28, 2015 to generally low fanfare. Full of features and harsh, aggressive vocals and beats, it envelops a certain anger and fearless wall breaking that KOHH would later smash through on the follow-up album (Dirt II). While it doesn't possess the rap-rock/goth rock elements he later has incorporated, the vocal delivery on tracks such as "Living Legend" , "Now", or "Ore ra No Seikatsu (Our Life)" are shouted and shrieked, emulating acts such as Korn or Marilyn Manson more so than Kool G Gang or Jay-Z. While there is that hip hop aspect to it, most notably on tracks such as "Be Me" or "If I Die Tonight", the overarching tenseness the album purveys is far heavier and darker than the average trap/hip hop album.
Lyrically KOHH has yet to fully mature, peppering his lyrics with English phrases and buzz words, all while delivering stories of his crew, their debauchery, criminal acts, or the more grim story painted on "If I Die Tonight" (of a man who is kidnapped and murdered), but this isn't to say the lyrics are extensively sub-par. Lyrically KOHH stands ahead of his contemporaries, Japanese or not, in the sense he is a spectacular deliverer - he could recite the phone book and make it sound compelling. His voice is almost strange and the shouting and screaming layered with basic flow is more compelling than other similar acts like xxxtentacion or Ski Mask the Slump God who just shout repetitively with little to no substance. KOHH is talented in that he flows behind the beat on purpose, and gives a bouncy groove to what he says.
Of the 13 tracks on "Dirt", the standout tracks are "Living Legend", "If I Die Tonight", and "Ore ra no Seikatsu", two of which received Music video promotion and garnered positive response from across the globe. KOHH is notorious for his tight knit, all of whom feature repeatedly on this album. Among them is [L]Dutch Montana[L], a similarly talented Japanese rapper who is gaining attention as a sidekick of sorts to KOHH. Their flows compliment each other exquisitely well, with Dutch's flow relying on a slow, delayed flow reminiscent of [L]Snoop Dogg[L], and Kohh's being a relaxed yet tense and aggressive flow similar to [L]Dr. Dre[L]. If there was to be a pair to aim to be seen, it is without question that one.
For many people, the language barrier may be an issue while getting into the Japanese rap scene, but Kohh's grasp of English is far enough along that there are many moments you can understand if you are only an English speaker. After featuring on Keith Ape's now infamous "It G Ma" remix, he was burst on the scene of Asian rap music, but still remains to be working toward any major recognition. The follow up album to "Dirt" was a further development of moody, angsty rap music that stands above the herd of other records being put out. If KOHH were to remain creative and innovative, it is feasible he'd be a household name within the decade. If he is, you'd likely heard it here first.
