Samurai Champloo, aired in 2004, is a groundbreaking anime directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. Seamlessly blending historical drama and hip-hop elements, it crafted a unique visual and musical experience that captivated anime enthusiasts and hip-hop fans, earning acclaim domestically and internationally.
Director Watanabe, known for his deep appreciation of music, selected four well-known hip-hop artists for this project: Nujabes, a rare track maker who shook the scene with his lo-fi hip-hop, later garnering numerous followers domestically and internationally; fat jon, who has been active since the 2000s as a central member of Five Deez, and has also released albums produced by Nujabes; Force of Nature, a unit consisting of KZA and DJ KENT, who handle remixes for numerous artists and showcase a strong presence as top runners in both domestic and international club scenes; and Tsutchie, who has been leading the scene since the dawn of Japanese hip hop as a track maker for SHAKKAZOMBIE.
In 2004, they released four CDs for Samurai Champloo: “Departure,” which includes tracks by Nujabes and fat jon, along with the opening theme “battlecry/Nujabes feat. Shing02” and the ending theme “Shiki no Uta/MINMI”; “masta,” featuring tracks by FORCE OF NATURE and Tsutchie; “Impression,” featuring tracks by Nujabes, fat jon, and FORCE OF NATURE, along with the insert song “who’s Theme/MINMI”; and “Playlist,” featuring tracks by Tsutchie. These CDs were smash hits but have since disappeared from the market, becoming sought-after collectibles.
In 2022, these four titles were reissued as vinyl records and became a hit, recording sales of over 30,000 copies across the four titles combined.
Now, in the 20th anniversary year of the TV broadcast, the CDs will finally be reissued in paper jacket format. Whether you bought the CD back then or discovered the series later through TV broadcasts, wouldn’t it be exciting to reimmerse yourself in the music world of Samurai Champloo on CD, which was the original format when it aired?
Additionally, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary, a collaboration event with the culture shop YEN TOWN MARKET® will be held as a popup store from June 15 at Shibuya PARCO 5 and YEN TOWN MARKET. Apparel items focusing on iconic scenes from the anime and unique designs exclusive to this collaboration are also in the works.
https://yentownmarket.com/
https://www.instagram.com/yentownmarket/
Product Information
Release Date: June 26, 2024
“departure” / Nujabes, fat jon
VTCL-60638 \ ¥3,190 (inc. tax)
Tracks
- battlecry / Nujabes feat. Shing02
- the space between two world / Nujabes
- aruarian dance / Nujabes
- transcendence / Nujabes
- mystline / Nujabes
- 1st samurai / Nujabes
- Shiki no Uta / MINMI
- ole / fat jon
- 624 part2 / fat jon
- genome / fat jon
- no way back / fat jon
- funkin’ / fat jon
- stay / fat jon
- chambers / fat jon
- ask / fat jon
- how you feel / fat jon
- 624 part1 / fat jon
“masta” / FORCE OF NATURE, Tsutchie
VTCL-60639 \ ¥3,190 (inc. tax)
Tracks
- vagrancy / FORCE OF NATURE
- mist / FORCE OF NATURE
- judgment on / FORCE OF NATURE
- loading zone / FORCE OF NATURE
- paranoid / FORCE OF NATURE
- silver children / FORCE OF NATURE
- the long way of drums / FORCE OF NATURE
- sneak chamber / FORCE OF NATURE
- new dimension / FORCE OF NATURE
- raw material / Tsutchie
- dry / Tsutchie
- breeezin’ / Tsutchie
- tubed [drum please!!!] / Tsutchie
- pretending to…/ Tsutchie
- seventythree / Tsutchie
- I sighed / Tsutchie
- sincerely / Tsutchie
- numbernine [back in TYO] / Tsutchie
- YOU feat.kazami / Tsutchie
“impression” / Nujabes, FORCE OF NATURE, fat jon
VTCL-60640 \ ¥3,190 (inc. tax)
Tracks
- sanctuary ship / Nujabes
- haiku [interlude] / Nujabes
- tsurugi no mai / Nujabes
- dead season / Nujabes
- decade [interlude] / Nujabes
- world without words / Nujabes
- kodama [interlude] / Nujabes
- silver morning / Nujabes
- who’s Theme / MINMI
- just forget / FORCE OF NATURE
- nightshift / FORCE OF NATURE
- Hiizuru STYLE / FORCE OF NATURE
- the stroll / FORCE OF NATURE
- death wish / FORCE OF NATURE
- set it off / FORCE OF NATURE
- the million way of drum / FORCE OF NATURE
- bracelet / fat jon
- in position / fat jon
- night out / fat jon
- not quite seleah / fat jon
- labyrinth statistic / fat jon
- here and there / fat jon
“playlist” / Tsutchie
VTCL-60641 \ ¥3,190 (inc. tax)
Tracks
- thank you / Tsutchie
- yet？ why not？/ Tsutchie
- strike back / Tsutchie
- let me know what U think / Tsutchie
- mists / Tsutchie
- flip / Tsutchie
- absolute / Tsutchie
- adapt myself / Tsutchie
- tuned / Tsutchie
- no icon / Tsutchie
- stretch out / Tsutchie
- process / Tsutchie
- reflective / Tsutchie
- deeper than word / Tsutchie
- 2 messages / Tsutchie
- the update / Tsutchie
- Offers / Tsutchie
- FLY feat. AZUMA RIKI[SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS] / Tsutchie feat.AZUMA RIKI
*Please note that the above contents may be subject to change without notice.
Distribution Information
Available on streaming services and major download sites such as the iTunes Store, RecoChoku, and mora.
“departure” / Nujabes, fat jon
https://jvcmusic.lnk.to/samurai_departure
“masta” / FORCE OF NATURE, Tsutchie
https://jvcmusic.lnk.to/samurai_masta
“impression” / Nujabes, FORCE OF NATURE, fat jon
https://jvcmusic.lnk.to/samurai_impression
“playlist” / Tsutchie
https://jvcmusic.lnk.to/samurai_playlist
