Reggaetón with Japanese roots is a match made in heaven for me – it mashes the best of Latin and Japanese culture’s rich sounds and aesthetics, and combines it with amazing rhythms.
I’m pulling out my top three picks for artists who blend Japanese culture with Latin sounds, creating Grammy winning songs and some of the best album themes ever, imho.
as a bonus: my mix of latin x JP songs!
P.S. today is my birthday. I wanted to share the music that served as the background music to some of the better nights in my life, and it just so happens to be a lot of this kind of music. especially yonaguni ;-;
Here’s to all the clubbing and concerts and late nite drives. xoxo!!!
Tainy – DATA
Everyone knew Tainy before he released his first album, DATA. He had already produced some of the biggest Latin hits in the past few years.
His first solo album features the best musicians in the game, from Bad Bunny, Rauw, to Young Miko.
The concept of DATA is based on Ghost in the Shell. DATA follows a pink haired cyborg girl named Sena. Tainy asked Ghost in the Shell character designer Hiromasa Ogura to create Sena.
Tainy was seen visiting Japan before DATA’s release. He uploaded stories from TSUTAYA T-site in Daikanyama, known for its huge collection of art and fashion books.
There’s even a Sena figure that got released for DATA’s second anniversary –
Tainy quotes the Japanese music production style as a major influence on his overall work as a producer, like on Bad Bunny’s song Dakiti.
Bad Bunny – Yonaguni and Bellacoso
Bad Bunny is the best at taking influences from the places he loves, and while that’s usually PR, he draws inspiration from Japan as well. BB is well known for his lines about Pokémon and other anime/game references.
I first heard about Yonaguni from a student of mine. He asked me before class one day, “miss xxx, what does “kyou wa sekkusu shitai” mean?” and I was like, f*ck. What do I say.
I rarely hear any song with Japanese lyrics get so vulgar – I was shocked the first time I heard it. A song that has people plugging their ears in Japan is now one of the most popular songs in the world. 😛
It has almost has a billion views on YT.
I found this full Japanese version of Yonaguni a while back, there aren’t many views, but its translated perfectly.
Give them a like if you enjoyed it.
BB has another song from his trap era with a Vocaloid sample in it.
See if you can find it. (:
hint: its this song, and you can hear it in the first few seconds sampled in bad bunny’s song.
Rosalia – Motomami
The song titles in Rosalia’s Motomami are Japanese inspired, from Hentai to Chicken Teriyaki. The album name itself is a Japanese brand.
Like Tainy’s production style, Motomami also draws from Japanese roots in its visuals, production, and lyrics.
There are several comments from Japanese users on this song thanking Rosalia for showing interest in Japan. (:
Bad Bunny just announced his first Tokyo tour date!!! I am going to write some more in-depth posts about Reggaeton and Japan soon. Don’t know if I will get to go to the concert, but I will be writing about it from afar. ;-;
Here is to another year of life, memories, and music. Until next time.❤️
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