☆METALHEADZ 30TH ANNIVERSARY☆
- CIRCUS TOKYO -
4/13 Sat. OPEN 23:00〜
ヤンチャな夜に染めようぜ！
GOLDIE！！

DJ KRUSH

DJ KRUSH became a hip-hop DJ in the early 1980s after being inspired by the movie, Wild Style. Later in the 1980s, he formed the hip-hop crew, B-FRESH3, and performed alongside break dancers on Harajuku, Tokyo’s pedestrian-only street. There, he met MURO and DJ GO and formed the KRUSH POSSE. In the style of one MC and two DJs, they were active across various media as one of the most talented hip-hop groups in Japan.

He started his solo career in 1992 after KRUSH POSSE disbanded. While searching for his own style of hip-hop that could be done as a solo DJ and searching for venues to share his art, he attracted attention both in Japan and internationally. He released his first album, KRUSH, in 1994. That same year, he released his second album, Strictly Turntablized (1994), through the independent London label, Mo’Wax, and it became a hot topic worldwide, especially in Europe. His third album, Meiso -迷走- (1995), his fourth album, MiLight -未来- (1996), his fifth album, 覚醒 -Kakusei- (1998), and his collaborative studio album with Toshinori Kondo, 記憶 Ki-Oku (1996), all featured domestic or international guest rappers and performers and became important works in the trip hop and abstract hip-hop scenes.

Within Japan, he participated in the first gathering of DJ YAS’s DJ/producer group, KEMURI PRODUCTIONS (DJ YAS, DJ KENSEI, DJ HAZU, DJ HIDE, DJ KRUSH), in 1995. These members appeared on his fourth album, MiLight -未来-, and his fifth album, Kakusei -覚醒-. During their first show, five DJs performed on ten turntables, scratched them as freely as if they were playing musical instruments, and completely captivated the audience. Additionally, he collaborated with DJ HIDE and DJ SAK to release the album 我 -Ga- under the group name 流 -ryu- in 1999.

All of his solo works have topped various charts both in Japan and overseas. In 2001, his sixth album, 漸 -Zen-, received the award for “Best Electronica Album” at the American AFIM Awards (considered to be the Grammy awards for indie music). His eighth album, 寂 -Jaku- (2004), was ranked at number one for three consecutive weeks on CMJ (US college radio) and the RPM charts (for electronic music), which is unusual for a work released by a DJ. While expanding overseas, he was also involved in a wide range of activities involving movies, TV shows, and commercials. In 2009, he was in charge of the full music score for the Russian animated film, First Squad. The movie was exhibited at the Moscow International Film Festival later that year and won the Kommersant newspaper’s prize.

He has been asked to make remixes for numerous Grammy-winning artists including Herbie Hancock, k.d. lang, and Ronny Jordan. He has also collaborated with, provided tracks for, and made remixes for world-renowned artists such as Miles Davis, Black Thought, Galliano, Pete Rock, and Coldcut, all of which have been highly acclaimed. Additionally, he joined Bill Laswell’s project, Method of Defiance. Following his performance with artists such as Bernie Worrell and Toshinori Kondo at the Montreux Jazz Festival, he appeared on the 2010 album, Incunabula, under the same project name. Herbie Hancock is also listed as an artist appearing on the album.

After eleven years of no album releases, he released his ninth album, Butterfly Effect, in 2015. His tenth album, 軌跡 -Kiseki- (2017), became the first album to feature various Japanese rappers from multiple generations. He shared his new view of the universe in his eleventh album, Cosmic Yard (2018), with Japanese musicians such as Toshinori Kondo, Shuzan Morita, and Yukihiro Atsumi. He further developed his sound on his twelfth album, Trickster (2020), by doing everything from beat-making to sound engineering himself. With 2022 marking the 30th anniversary of his solo career, he produced a new song, 道 -Story-, and toured both domestically and internationally.

As for his DJ performances, he has toured as a DJ actively both in Japan and abroad for about 30 years. He has performed at over 200 different music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival (the largest festival in the UK), Coachella (USA), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Sónar (Spain), and Roskilde (Denmark). His DJ club performances have captivated over 8 million audiences in over 350 cities in 60 countries. He continues to defy nationalities and genres and leaves his own unique footprint as a highly-acclaimed international artist.