Explore Japanese and global hip-hop through the people making it. These are HIPHOPCs interviews with artists, DJs, producers and people working behind the scenes. Read their accounts of making music, building relationships across borders and keeping local scenes moving.
Cz TIGER recalls Jose Guapo’s invitation and the relationships he built in Atlanta. Read Cz TIGER’s account.
How do collaborators divide the work on a song?
DJ KANJI discusses asking collaborators to handle melodies while he builds drums, and getting to know an artist before recording. Read the DJ KANJI interview.
Who keeps a music venue running?
EBISU BATICA’s Kosuke Ichinose and Saki Kiribe describe the work behind a night of live music, from cleaning and equipment maintenance to booking artists. Read about the work behind BATICA.
Published interviews in English
Each entry links to the English article and its Japanese counterpart. Dates are the publication dates of the English editions, not the dates when the conversations took place. Where available, artist profiles connect the interview to the person’s background and music.
This archive contains published articles based on HIPHOPCs interviews conducted directly with the subject or their authorized representative.
Reports centered on interviews by other outlets, republished material, press-release Q&As or statements from social media are not included as HIPHOPCs original interviews.
An archive entry does not, by itself, certify rights clearance, comparison with an original recording or a complete word-for-word transcript.
Reusing text, translations, quotations, video or audio on another page requires checking the basis and publication conditions for that use.
Connect the interview to people, places and music
Follow the artist profiles for background and selected music. The Japan regional guides and US regional guides place artists, works and venues in a wider local context. Related links within individual articles lead to further interviews, releases and reporting.
Editing, translation and AI
HIPHOPCs does not use AI to invent statements or answers it has not obtained. Its editorial policy requires human review of meaning when preparing a new edited or translated edition, and an explanation of the source language and editing or translation scope in the article. See the publication and its editorial approach.
Corrections and information
For corrections, rights or credit inquiries, use the details on the contact page (Japanese). Substantive corrections are recorded in the relevant article’s update history with the date, change and reason.
Archive updates
: Added this English archive as the counterpart to the Japanese interview archive. It brings together existing English articles; it does not represent new interviews or a new translation of every article.
