NevalOne on EXODUS and BLOCK: How Tokyo Club Nights Become a Scene
At EXODUS and BLOCK, a night out can become the beginning of a record. Artists meet on the floor, get to know one another, make music together and return to perform it in front of people who have watched that connection develop. NevalOne describes the two parties as parts of one scene, shaped by those ongoing connections.
Both parties take place at clubasia in Shibuya, Tokyo. EXODUS is a weekly Wednesday party featuring DJs and artists, with live painting, tattooing and exhibitions also forming part of its programming. BLOCK began at Ikebukuro's bed before moving to clubasia. In this HIPHOPCs interview, NevalOne talks about building trust with artists and venues, the financial reality of organizing, and what smaller clubs can offer a generation finding its audience through streaming and television.
Interview and original text: 佐藤杜美 / HIPHOPCs. This English edition translates the questions and answers from the Japanese interview published October 20, 2026, with the introduction, closing reflection and reference material edited for this edition. References to “this year,” event schedules, relationships and future plans retain the interview's original time frame; they are not fresh confirmations of event details. Views about artists and the wider industry are NevalOne's.
From carrying records to organizing parties
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): I came along to BLOCK on August 29! For readers meeting you for the first time, or who don't know much about EXODUS and BLOCK, could you introduce yourself?
NevalOne: I'm One. When I was younger I rapped, and around the pandemic I moved into running a club. I was producing events alongside those things, but these days my involvement in the club scene is solely as an organizer.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Is there a story behind the name NevalOne?
NevalOne: People ask me that a lot. It's pronounced “Never Alone”—a variation on those words. It's something like a motto, a phrase I value in what I do. But you can just call me One.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Where are you from?
NevalOne: I was in Aomori just after I was born, but I grew up in Tokyo.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Were you into hip-hop as a student, and did you already want to work in music? What were you listening to back then?
NevalOne: I listened to all sorts of things besides hip-hop. I wasn't a huge music fan or anything—just an ordinary listener. BLANKEY JET CITY, Namie Amuro, things like that. As far as hip-hop goes, I got into Japanese rap through classmates who were ahead of the curve, and West Coast music through friends who hung around a local lowrider team.
The TV drama IWGP influenced me too. In terms of Japanese youth subcultures, I grew up in the “gang” era, so maybe it was the fashion and lifestyle that drew me in first, more than the music. From there I started rapping myself, and carrying records for DJ Couz, whom HIPHOPCs has also interviewed, and working on events. Those experiences connect to what I do now.
What keeps EXODUS and BLOCK going
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): I'd like to hear more about each party. EXODUS is every Wednesday and BLOCK happens three times a year. How long has each party been running?
NevalOne: EXODUS is in its sixth year, every Wednesday. We started right in the middle of the pandemic. BLOCK is in its eleventh year, three times a year.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): You organize events alongside your regular job. Is it difficult to balance them? Preparation and running the nights must take time and effort outside work.
NevalOne: I don't really think of it as balancing the two. It's more like I spend the money I earn at my regular job on having fun, and sometimes I get a little change back. [Laughs]
Even over a whole year, what I earn from events doesn't amount to an ordinary company employee's bonus. It can't be my main source of income. In terms of the financial return on the time and effort you put in, organizing events is terrible.
But left to myself, I'd really just stay home all the time. I'm shy, and I'm not good at communicating with people. It's through clubs and events that I'm able to fit into society.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): So rather than balancing your job and events, it feels more like enjoying something you love?
NevalOne: Yes, something like that. I get to interact directly with people who look forward to my events. It lets me feel that what I do might be something that helps someone keep going, or makes them happy. That's rewarding.
And having artists trust me matters much more to me than money, and makes me happier. Sometimes an artist asks me to produce a tour, a headline show or a release party—something that's special and important to them. Those are the moments when I really feel that keeping at this has been worthwhile.
It's also a joy when younger artists make performing at my events a goal, or when I can watch them pass through my events and go on to bigger things.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): I get the sense that more young people want to get involved in hip-hop through planning and running events. What should someone starting out as an organizer value first?
NevalOne: The most important thing is trust with the artists performing and the clubs hosting you. That's everything, I think. To put it bluntly, anyone with the money can book an artist or rent a venue. To build an event that artists themselves want to play, you have to develop a distinctive identity over time.
I don't book people just for their name recognition or how many people they'll draw. I want to understand their work, their individual style and the background to what they do, and approach them in a way that communicates: “We really need you at this event.”
Clubs have their own personalities and histories, too, and you mustn't forget to respect that. An event can't happen without the cooperation of the staff who work there. So first you need to be someone people like—or, rather, someone they can trust.
I've heard there are more young people organizing events lately, but I've also heard about people not getting paid and events being canceled at the last minute. So it starts with the most basic things you should do as a person.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Both BLOCK and EXODUS have continued for years with their own stance. What matters to you in running them, and what sets them apart?
NevalOne: Starting with BLOCK, we moved to asia after bed in Ikebukuro closed. At bed we held it monthly, so when we first started doing it irregularly at asia, for better or worse it felt like a one-off festival each time.
But EXODUS starting six years ago created continuity. Something that happens every week becomes part of your life, doesn't it? My day-to-day life—my whole life, really—got drawn into that rhythm. I think that's true for the people who regularly perform at both BLOCK and EXODUS, too.
There are rappers coming to hang out almost every week, getting tattoos and buying clothes in the same place. Somewhere on the floor each week, artists meet, become friends and start making new tracks together. Then they perform those tracks at EXODUS or BLOCK. That becomes an ordinary part of life, and the audience gets to witness it as it happens.
So it feels less like BLOCK and EXODUS are separate events, and more like all of it together is creating one scene, one culture.
New artists, bigger stages and the place of the club
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Are there artists you're especially watching right now, or whose future you're excited about?
NevalOne: It's difficult to name just one, but I pay particular attention to the artists who perform at my events. Specifically, 042ghxst and Slumza, and 042VICESIDE, which centers on those two, are definitely a standout presence in Japan's underground scene. Lately, the Nagoya scene around HPE, who are close to 042, has been exciting too. I also like Yukiya Mishima.
I've been watching people like S TILL I DIE and rirugiliyangugili up close for a long time, and I can feel their growth as it happens. I think they'll definitely get bigger. I've come back around to rirugiliyangugili a few times now, and lately I'm really into the music again. I reckon S TILL I DIE could win Rapstar.
I always keep an eye on the scene in Tohoku, where my roots are, and artists from there—D-SETO, YUNGSTAお仲間 and S4L, especially. I like the Fukuoka and Osaka scenes too.
And there are people whose careers and activities I don't know in detail yet, but whose tracks I've heard recently and simply thought were great: the collective 303, XiangXiang, TwoBS, Fisong and 日本猿, for example.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Over all these years of running events, have you noticed changes in hip-hop and club culture? Is there anything different about how younger artists make music or go about their careers?
NevalOne: I don't mean this as a dig, but I wonder if we've reached a point where it's difficult to really make it big unless you're part of something like the ecosystem around ABEMA or Rapstar. Almost the whole scene seems to be under that influence, including MC battles and Budokan shows. I don't think it's necessarily healthy for one dominant force to stay on top for too long. That said, right now the benefits we receive are overwhelmingly greater.
I also wonder whether clubs might be becoming less important to younger rappers. They start out in small venues, become widely known through SoundCloud, TikTok or media like Rapstar, and before you know it they've skipped past asia and HARLEM and are already playing Makuhari or doing headline shows. Fees are going up, too, so there are more artists who are now difficult to book on a club's budget.
But more young artists also seem to be turning back toward the underground, in their attitude as well as their music. So rather than feeling dissatisfied with the current system, I want to look toward using this situation to build a broader base—making it possible to earn decent money even in the underground, and creating and supporting that foundation.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): You seem close to FUJI TRILL. How long have you known each other? Are there other artists you're close to?
NevalOne: I've known FUJI for about seven years. I'm also close to TYOSiN and Jin Dogg—I've known those two longer than FUJI. I've known 釈迦坊主 and ZERRY for a surprisingly long time, too.
With the generations younger than that, the age gap is so big that even if we've built a solid relationship, it doesn't feel quite right for me to say, “We're close friends!” Recently I found out krynX's dad is the same age as me. It's like I'm bridging that generation gap over drinks.
I always keep in mind that I'm the organizer, and they're the artists who agree to play my events. Still, I'm proud to see the success of the people I'm with every week at EXODUS, or artists like Young zetton, Showy and the X GANG members, whom I've stayed in touch with since their early days.
佐藤杜美 (HIPHOPCs): Finally, is there anything you'd like to say to the heads reading this? And do you have any upcoming events to tell us about?
NevalOne: These days it's not just rappers—the whole world is fixated on numbers. You can make money just by attracting attention, even the wrong kind. So people do whatever they want without thinking about the trouble they cause others, get some sort of taste of success, and then other idiots copy them. I don't want people to get swept up in that ugly cycle.
I want the people who deserve recognition to be recognized and rewarded. That's one thing I've believed consistently for a very long time. What matters most is that the heads look closely and judge for themselves, so let's keep making great culture together.
Lastly, we're making a compilation album with DJs and producers who currently play EXODUS, along with rappers connected to us. We're planning a release party with the participating artists at the BLOCK scheduled for December 26. It's shaping up to be a really good record, so I hope people look forward to both that and the release party. Our regular EXODUS nights are still happening every week, so please feel free to come by!
After the interview
In the original interview, EXODUS was in its sixth year and BLOCK in its eleventh. What connects them is not simply a shared organizer. NevalOne describes the repeated encounters that turn an event into part of people's lives: meeting on the floor, making a track and bringing it back to the same room.
His account also makes the work behind that continuity visible. Artists need to trust the person booking them; a venue's history and staff deserve respect; a party's identity takes time to establish. Those are the relationships behind the scene that audiences see on a particular night.
This closing reflection is adapted from the original writer's post-interview section. The compilation and December 26 party above are plans described in the original interview. For current announcements, check the organizer and venue directly.
NevalOne and clubasia
- NevalOne on Instagram
- NevalOne on X
- clubasia: official website and event information
- Video linked in the Japanese interview
