On Sunday, April 6th, a new music event, “RIOT,” was held at two venues at Spotify O-EAST and O-WEST in Shibuya, Tokyo. The performers are Kroi, BREIMEN, Hedigan’s, wau (collective band set), Sarasa (band set), PAS TASTA, JUMADIBA, SAR, and Roka (OA).
This event was hosted by management/label “anon”, headed by managers in charge of Kroi and others. With the rise of social media and streaming services, the 2020s has become a “borderless and missile” era in which listeners and musicians can experience music across genres, but anon is concerned that the lineup of music festivals and events is becoming more and more formal, and has launched “RIOT” as a festival that curates a diverse range of music.
The opening act was singer-songwriter Roka, a popular singer-songwriter who belongs to anon. The event featured two choruses in addition to guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, and the venue was shaken with its luxurious songs and grooves, making it feel like you’ve suddenly had a main dish from the first song of the event. In addition to “CUTENESS” and “Never Cold,” which were released last year, they also performed their upcoming third single “So In Love.” The audience was intoxicated by Roka’s songs, which have its roots in R&B and soul.
Alternative crew SAR, who has decided to make his major debut with the same IRORI Records as Kroi, is so popular that O-WEST is subject to entry restrictions. The song, “Back to Wild” and “Side by Side”, is carefully constructed and manipulated the speed while controlling the speed, and while the smooth singing voice mixes santa’s (Vo.) English and Japanese, the rap accented with Imu Sam’s (Gt., MC) gives off a spice. “Uptown,” which gives a generous sense of love for black music from his chorus work, has become a SAR anthem that naturally leads to calls and responses. If SAR stirs up the major scene without bending its aesthetics and musicality, the mainstream Japanese landscape will change dramatically. It was a stage that made me want to expect such a thing.
The set of creative collective/label wau is a special lineup featuring producers Kota Matsukawa (voquote), Ryuju Tanoue, Kazuho Otsuka (01sail), Reo Anzai (Sakepnk), Gai seki and Koki Furukawa as the backing band, and Raylowgh Annno and Julia Takada as the chorus, with reina, Sarasa, Lil Summer, Ámina and MÖSHI appearing as vocalists. The first person to take the stage was reina, who was selected as Spotify’s popular next-generation artist, RADAR: Early Noise 2025, and is blowing a new wind into the domestic R&B scene. As Lil Summer joined in, each unique flow and singing voice blended into Wau’s performance, and infiltrated the bodies of each individual on the floor. Singer Ámina, who has Japanese and Sudan roots, appeared only on one song from “With My Heart,” but as he delivered the powerful song along with a track that reinterpreted 90’s R&B, the audience blew up in a thunderous cheer and applause. Finally, rapper/fashion designer MÖSHI, a former London University of Arts, appeared, creating a situation where the members even head-bang as heavy beats and distorted guitars reverberated, repainting the atmosphere and leaving the stage dashing. The 50 minutes, with a variety of rhythms and sounds, made me realize that Japan’s alternative R&B/neo-soul culture was definitely evolving and interesting.
JUMADIBA, who appeared on the O-WEST stage, inherited the atmosphere created by wau and MÖSHI. JUMADIBA is also an artist who has expanded the possibilities of rapping in the domestic hip-hop scene and in Japanese. With the latest song, “Chrome Hearts,” he held the microphone in his unadorned appearance, and continued his smooth flow, almost like a brush on washi paper. As the audience shaking their bodies as the tracks expand the scenery in their heads, they are pleased with the reaction of the floor, saying, “You’ll be seeing everyone today.” Finally, he turned to the floor where many people were raised to the appeal of “The first time I saw JUMADIBA!” and delivered “Spike!” as a business card: “I made my own beat when I first started music” and “I’ve always thought this is my song.”
From the start, Hedigan’s has put his extraordinary love for humans into the music, just like the song “LOVE (XL)”. In “After that…”, YONCE (Vo., Gt.) naturally claps his hands and thrusts his fist in the performance, which also includes wild vocalizations, and the audience is excited as if their instincts have been awakened. During the MC, he asked, “Are you the different?” and affirmed the freedom of each individual, saying, “It’s different today too. No one is the same. That’s great.” He thought he would put a blissful melody into his ears with a “rebirth” song that puts his love for music on his song, but his “preaching old man’s roomba” and “defeaturing manners” add a psychedelic mood to overwhelm the audience. In the song “Defeat Etiquette,” he made the unusual stimulation of “someone who’s ever lost!”, and even though a lot of hands were raised, he even said, “Even if you raise your hands, there’s nothing there,” which is typical of Hedigan’s. In the end, the members also showed their explosive power as a rock band by moving around freely on stage. Hedigan’s is a music that unlocks the bondage of all society and reminds us of humanity.
PAS TASTA, a music unit consisting of six up-and-coming producers/artists, including hirihiri, Kabanagu, phritz, quoree, Uyama Amane, and yuigot, will be appearing as a DJ set. The PAS TASTA sound source gives the impression that friends are gathering in the park and enjoying the play of “music,” but it’s heartwarming to see everyone take turns DJing and each one at a time. While remixing the ultimate pop songs such as The Beatles “Come Together” and The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber “STAY”, the song from PAS TASTA is also being attracting attention for Kitani Tatsuya’s vocals, and “BULLDOZER+” shouted with the microphone. This attitude seemed to encompass the will of PAS TASTA, which advocates “a super-sized J-POP” rather than just keeping it up to hyperpop or internet music. The moment JUMADIBA appeared halfway through and sang “DOSHABURI,” there was a fever on the floor that seemed to say they had been waiting for it.
Alternative funk band BREIMEN has a session introducing members after George Hayashi (Sax) plays a sax solo with “Saw-off panties.” After finishing two songs, 20 minutes have already passed. “RIOT” provides an environment that is impossible for a festival set with a 30-minute time span, and BREIMEN is in charge of frontman Takagi Shota (Vo., Ba.) taking the lead in the live show, with arrangements and ad-libbing. In “D.T.F”, they have a solo play based on Jass by Ikeda Yuta (Key.), and while they are promoting the “alternative funk band,” they not only have funk but also a variety of musical elements, but the appeal of BREIMEN is that they are made into pop with their emotional songs/poems and five characters. After continuing on with the ending theme of the TV anime “Dr.STONE,” “Rolling Stone,” and the early masterpiece “IWBYL,” the audience was finally able to breathe through the spectacular soundscape of “L.G.O.” We witnessed the amazingness of BREIMEN, who shows an incredible range of swings, but also does things that require special concentration and skill.
Sarasa, who also appeared on wau’s stage and was the finalist for O-WEST, is also a singer-songwriter who has updated the domestic alternative R&B/neo-soul scene. On this day, he appeared with yuya saito (Gt/ex. yonawo), Matsuura Chinobu (Dr), Otsuka Manami (Ba), and Ishida Genki (Key, Sax) as band members. In the mid-length MC, she carefully shared her thoughts, such as “You don’t necessarily have to go black and white with your own thoughts and thoughts,” which she put into the “gray zone” she created during the COVID-19 pandemic. When you deliver this message over the sounds of excitement, as the lyrics say, “If I can dance at will,” the floor shaking as I want. Sweetly responds to the reactions of the music lovers who gather in “RIOT,” and smiles and says, “You’re in a good mood,” and puts your hands in a heart to express your gratitude. The song concluded with “Amber,” and the deep, smooth song that weaves the blue part of your heart gives the impression that it brings back the listener’s sadness and brings the heart to a flattering position.
Kroi was the headliner for the first episode of “RIOT.” Don’t be beaten by his ally BREIMEN, he makes a powerful band ensemble with his incredible live arrangements. Uchida Reo (Vo., Gt.) choked up when the packed floor connected the popular song “Sesame” to “Amber” which was so popular that it made him cheer in the intro. Instead, the audience begins the chorus. After finishing the song, Uchida said, “I squished my throat!” and “My manager Ando is a comrade who I’ve been with since Indy. I was so moved by Ando’s sunny stage that I squished my throat.” In the second half, we suddenly changed the set list and first started with “HORN”. During the “Invasion” which was performed as planned, he also showed off his singing guitar solo. Finally, he gained momentum by saying, “It collapses quickly, but it heals quickly,” and shouted from the bottom of his stomach before he said, “Juden.” Each solo throbbing threw cheers, and the large-robin greeted the group with a call and response from Everybody Funky. During the encore, the live arrangement was designed to be a roller coaster-like live performance, and the long-lasting outro performance of the outro was exploded. It was Kroi who turned a crisis into a frenzy.
“RIOT” is a collection of artists who are creating new music while crossing genres. The audience enjoyed the music freely, dancing, and the floor was filled with euphoria. Kroi’s Uchida said, “Please make it for the second time! Everyone definitely come for the second time!” and gave a hint that the second time “RIOT” would be held. The most necessary thing to make this happen is exactly what Uchida left behind in the end – “I’m going to continue to make such a dangerous night together, so please love music.”
Text by Yajima Yukako
Photo by Renzo Masuda (Kroi, BREIMEN, Hedigan’s, wau, Roka), Kaito Ono (Sarasa, PAS TASTA, JUMADIBA, SAR,)
[Event Information]
“RIOT”
Date: Sunday, April 6th, 2025
Venue: Spotify O-EAST / WEST, Shibuya, Tokyo
Cast:
Kroi
BREIMEN
Smooth (Band Set)
SAR
wau (Collective Band Set)
JUMADIBA
PAS TASTA (DJ Set)
Hedigan’s
Roka (OA)
Organised by: anon LLC
Production: 01creative
Contact: Sunrise Promotion Tokyo 0570-00-3337 (Weekdays 12:00-15:00)
