Header Photo by cherry chill will.
Japan’s largest hip-hop festival “POP YOURS 2024” (sponsored by Space Shower Network Co., Ltd.) will be held on Saturday, May 18th and Sunday, May 19th at Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall 9-11. I was disappointed.
Last year, BAD HOP announced their disbandment, giving the festival an image of being a festival where “something happens” and cannot be missed, and tickets immediately sold out when they went on general sale. This year, the third festival, headlined by LEX and Tohji, featured a lineup of 43 diverse acts that lead the Japanese hip-hop scene, including talented young artists such as LANA and Watson, secret appearances by YENTOWN and Chiba Yuki’s shot live, and special act OZROSAURUS. A total of 35,000 people attended the venue over the two days, and the performances were live-streamed on YouTube this year as well, with a total of 560,000 viewers and 1.6 million views.
Opening DJ MARZY created the atmosphere on DAY1, and the venue was filled with talented performers such as KviBaba, Lunv Loyal, and Yvng Patra from the morning, and the venue was filled with loud cheers and choruses right after the show started. “NEW COMER SHOT LIVE”, which produces stars every year, featured Hiroshima’s JAKEN, Nagoya’s crew LOST, and Kohjiya, who is a hot topic for appearing on Abema’s popular audition program “Rap Star 2024.” At noon, Peanuts, who is popular as a VTuber, and Chinza DOPENESS, who continue to make their presence felt with their strong sense of rhythm and skills, attracted the audience. MFS created a stylish stage with their dancers, and Bombero captivated the audience with his high-speed raps. “B2B”, in which Benjazzy made a guest appearance, was met with tremendous cheers. Red Eye invited DO to perform “Villain’s Poetry Remix” and at the end of the live performance, he announced that he would hold his first Budokan performance in 2025.
JUMADIBA performed their usual easy and cool flow even at the packed Makuhari Messe. She communicated well with the audience and seemed to enjoy conveying her inner emotions through rapping. The OZworld that followed showed a magnificent world view that looked great on a big stage. “RISE TOGETHER”, an official sampling of “Godzilla’s theme”, also brought in AI. Afterwards, kZm, PETZ, JNKMN, Awich, Money Horse, and U-Lee appeared in secret as YENTOWN. They sang a medley of their new song “Unfortunately Happy” and their respective representative songs. STUTS performed their new song “Pointless 5 (feat. PUNPEE)” featuring Sucha Dara Par. JP THE WAVY’s performance is a perfect fusion of rap and dance, showing that he takes music seriously. He also showed off his sharp dance moves while holding the microphone. LANA was amazing. She has an unusual scale that makes it hard to believe she is 20 years old. Completely original, not borrowed. It embodies Japanese soul and blues.
JJJ captured the hearts of the audience with their soulful spit. He sang “YW” with popular Korean rappers BLASÉ and Bombero, as well as “Mirror” with MFS. During “Beautiful Mind,” audience members could be seen spontaneously turning on their smartphone lights after hearing JJJ’s rap. KEIJU started off with “Lonely Nights” with tofubeats, then hit a series of killer tunes such as “Day N Night” with BADHOP’s GK.id and guca owl, raising the tension in the venue. OZROSAURUS showed off their dignity with songs such as the Japanese rap classic “Area Area” and “Players’ Player.” There is a reason why he continues to be respected in the scene for many years. The profound words and rap were truly special. The performance was directed by Kento Yamada.
DAY1 headliner LEX hung in the air during the first song “Gold”, synchronized with the giant butterfly wings displayed on the LED monitor. The flying performance stunned the audience. She delivered “Say Anything” with her ally JP THE WAVY, “5xL” with 5lack, “Psychedelic” and “Mama’s Boy” with KEIJU, and “Bright Room” with her sister LANA. A genius who combines delicacy and boldness. It was a moving performance that made you feel that through his music activities, he was finally able to acquire the vibrancy of a 22-year-old.
DAY2 opened with an energetic DJ performance by nasthug, followed by a variety of talented artists such as Kaneee, 7, and Campanella. The audience, who came to the venue full of vibes, greeted the artists with a loud chorus from the morning, and CFN Malik, taro, sweaty, and lil soft tennis appeared on “NEW COMER SHOT LIVE” at noon. Elle Teresa, wearing a pink wig, performed with sexy and stylish dancers. “Boss Bitch” got the floor excited along with 7. The rap-loving boys and girls went wild with DADA’s dark and aggressive drill “Satsutaba” that followed.
In the afternoon, check out the sophisticated Daichi Yamamoto. They listened to songs such as “Glass no Kyoto”, the music video of which was just released from the album “Radiant” produced with JJJ. SIRUP delivered a sincere message along with groovin songs. Next is the passionate kZm. They performed “Dream Chaser Remix,” “DOSHABURI feat. JUMADIBA,” and “Forever Young” to Makuhari Messe, which was filled with smartphone lights. In addition, the first live performance of Kaneee, Kohjiya, and Yvng Patra’s popular song “Champions” produced by KM and planned by “POP YOURS” was also held.
CreativeDrugStore’s tight mic relay was a highlight. BIM, VaVa, in-d, JUBEE, and dooooo, who are all active solo artists, have also announced that they will be performing at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall in September. As the evening approaches, tofubeats, who was a big hit as a guest yesterday, makes the audience dance with “Mercury,” and Yo-Sea heals and excites the audience with her crystal clear singing voice.
A long climax begins with the appearance of Watson, a man who would suit the big stage of Makuhari. Working Class Hero from Tokushima now has a huge chorus for all his songs. On the other hand, IO, which pursues the coolness of the city, also brings out their songs with “City Of Dreams” and “TOKYO KIDS” with MonyHorse. Everyone sang, even Hibari Misora, who was sampled. Jin Dogg hits “BLUE feat. PETZ” and “Machikaze” with the tension rising to the point of exploding. Then, with Young Coco and “Team Friend Dirty Kansai Remix”, the much-talked-about Yuki Chiba finally arrived in Makuhari. I exchanged vows with many of my friends on the team. Many people were impressed by Ralph and Guca Owl, who didn’t mind the atmosphere. Although they both have different styles, they put on a show that demonstrated their stoicism.
The day 2 headliner Tohji was on a high from the peak. From the dark and hard “KUUGA” mode in the first half, he made the whole of Makuhari dance wild with high energy rap songs such as “GOKU VIBES” with Elle Teresa, “TEENAGE VIBE” with kZm, and “Higher” by Mall Boyz. In Japan today, “hip hop” is not a word that expresses a specific sound or style. For the subscription native generation, it has a meaning that encompasses derived subgenres and cultures. “POP YOURS” curated the diversification of hip hop using the festival format.
DAY1’s LEX was rock-ish, and DAY2’s Tohji was rave-ish. But they were both unmistakably hip-hop. All 43 groups had different personalities and showed the best stage. Those who attended the venue and those who watched the live stream on YouTube witnessed a creative incident at the forefront of Japanese hip-hop as entertainment. Many people must have thought so. I can’t wait for next year’s event.
Text by Keita Miyazaki
【event information】
『POP YOURS 2024』
Dates: Saturday, May 18th, 2024 and Sunday, May 19th, 2024
Venue: Chiba/Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Center Halls 9-11
Sponsor: Space Shower Network Co., Ltd.
Production: SMASH / HOT STUFF PROMOTION / WWW
Sponsored by: FNMNL
