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Team Work: PALM2REE Featuring Gokou Kuyt “Reflect Alone (Yuzion — ‘Jealousy’ Remix’)”

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Music remains one of the few passages between Japan and South Korea fostering good vibes in increasingly strained times between the two. Rap, in particular, has enjoyed quite the creative exchange in the 2010s, highlighted by “It G Ma,” but flourishing lately thanks to an underground rap community on both sides open to collaboration and inspiration. “Reflect Alone” offers a nice snapshot on this, while also presenting one of the more unique ways this interchange has blossomed. This number, by Chiba rapper PALM2REE featuring a guest verse from Gokou Kuyt, is a take on South Korean rapper Yuzion’s “Jealousy,” a twinkling number featuring a video borrowing from Japanese pop culture (and, you know, physically set there too). Watch that one below.

“Reflect Alone” recreates the beat — key to its charm, it sounds just off, giving this one a Silly Putty vibe to it — and lets PALM2REE bounce over it. Gokou Kuyt is always going to be near the top of our SoundCloud-era rapper charts around here, and their section proves a highlight, as they deliver a welcome bit of melancholic chilliness to the otherwise bouncy number. It’s sturdy enough on its own, but extra intriguing given how it draws across borders. Listen above.

New CRZKNY: “Hong Kong”

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Editor’s Note: Hello, long time no see! After a break from blogging due to family issues, I’m starting up, though it might still be infrequent. Thanks for your continued support.

Hiroshima juke producer CRZKNY has been political since the very start of the decade, kicking back at Japan’s nuclear power industry and the government in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He hasn’t slowed down since, and newest track “Hong Kong” turns its attention to happenings elsewhere in Asia. While it features samples of protestors in the city from this year, “Hong Kong” leaves enough space for it to function as a call to arms for anywhere in the world, anchored by CRZKNY’s familiar approach to beats, which goes for the pummeling. Rather than crush, though, “Hong Kong” uses this energy to build momentum and become a rallying cry. Listen above.

New Normcore Boyz: “Anti Social Club”

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You’ve got a winner when your rap video features choreographed dancing and lyrics that skirt pretty close to J-pop category. Normcore Boyz have found themselves in the less charming “how much can we sound like American rap without adding anything new” camp a few times, but in recent times have been far stranger, creating songs that feel not far off from Dreams Come True lyrically and straight-up Christmas songs. “Anti Social Club” is another welcome addition to this lane, with the only possible American artist it will run up against is Vic Mensa. The latest from the group features the most up-tempo beat they’ve ever rapped over, and each member takes a turn showing off their own skill over it, in a way I can’t really recall in slower numbers. Worked in there are lyrics about shooting stars and summer memories…a welcome dash of Oricon penmanship that helps give this one a unique flavor. Listen above.

New HiRO.JP: “A Long Time”

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The last few Local Visions’ releases didn’t offer much room to get all verbose about nostalgia and different angles on the past. Ahhhh, but here comes HiRO.JP with a three-song set to get the brain racing again. The project has been playing around with the sonic idea of city pop, doing it far more faithfully than younger Japanese bands dabbling in throwback sounds, Western producers fiddling with the concept or K-pop companies trying to recreate dazzling bubble sounds. A Long Time uses locked-in bass notes, strings, synth twinkles and backing vocals to create one of the better recreations of the sound. Critical to that is a real longing lingering in songs, with the vocals on the title track adding welcome tension to an otherwise sleek cut, and the previously released “Last Month” matching a steady drip of wonky electronics with the sweetest singing they’ve managed yet. It can’t actually approach the actual feeling of those days, but the feeling rings through clearly. Get it here, or listen below.

New TEMPLIME And Hoshimiya Toto: “Watertank” EP

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Look away for a second, and production project TEMPLIME have started trending upwards. Following the buoyant Sphere, the duo have started working with SAWA on a new song and are set to appear at live events also featuring the likes of kz. The real sign of TEMPLIME moving on up, however, is the overall quality of their new Watertank EP with Hoshimiya Toto. It’s a bit tough figuring out just what Toto’s deal is — I’d say they aren’t a Virtual YouTuber per se, and they opt for “virtual creator.” Yet here they sound at home over TEMPLIME’s high-energy electro, adding a nice human (human?) touch to songs prone to diving into pit-ready drops at various points, or letting hop-scotching beats dominante. Get it here, or listen below.