One of the more fruitless corners of the Japanese online music world is the “hip-hop beats” realm, not for lack of quality but rather because everything sounds more or less the same. Dusty jazz samples looped over and over again, like they are auditioning for A Tribe Called Quest…I mean, it all sounds nice, but that’s it…just nice. So it is refreshing to hear someone like Stuts (the producer name of Yuya Kita) and his breezy “Santa Monica.” It is still build out of samples, but instead of smack you over the head with its “REAL HIP HOP SOUND,” it aims for something more mellow and nostalgic, slivers of violin and horn sneaking in to add a greater sweetness here. Listen above.
