It’s a bit misleading to look at “Future Running” as “juke going mainstream in Japan,” even if it feels like a significant step forward. Tavito Nanao has a bit of cred for sure, but he’s hardly an Oricon staple, more of an artsy outsider capable of hovering around the rim of mainstream Japanese. Anyway, that time EXILE learned about footwork already beat “Future Running” to the punch. Still, this feels exciting, a merging of worlds you don’t normally expect. Nanao has recruited Boogie Mann, who has released juke music via labels such as Shinkaron and Бｈ○§†. And “Future Running” attempts to blur a proper song together with the jittery structure of juke, and it mostly works. It is a bit too long — which is to say, the first section goes on a bit too much, before the song plunges into something resembling a “proper” juke song. But the anxious beat — and that wonderful drop — make for a lot of wonderful tension. Listen above.
