Big-O and DJ Watarai - Straight to Next Door

Big-O and DJ Watarai
Straight to Next Door

TRACKLIST
01: Intro

02: Open

03: Misted City (feat. XBS and Muro)

04: City Wings (feat. Lupe Fiasco)

05: Reloaded (feat. Dabo)

06: Speak My Mind (feat. OC)

07: SASUGA (feat. Jon-E)

08: Demonstration (feat. Suiken and Chief Low)

09: Get Priority (feat. Deli and OC)

10: Soloist Dream

11: I'm Gonna Be Alright

12: We Run 東京 (We Run Tokyo feat. U Zipplain, Jon-E, Geema, and Rever)

13: 嵐の夜 (Arashi no Yoru)

14: Anything (feat. Jon-E)

Big-O is a member of one of the pioneer groups of Japanese Hip-Hop, Shakkazombie, with Tsutchie and Ignition Man. Their success shortly followed that of the great Hip-Hop groups of the past like Rhymester and King Gidora. Needless to say, Big-O, formerly known as Osumi, has been in the rap game for a while -- since 1994 to be exact. Big-O followed his Shakkazombie success with a number of big name collaborations to become a mainstream and very well-known emcee in Japan. Big-O has hit exceptional tracks with Japanese music's finest from many different genres; Dabo, Sowelu, Crystal Kay, Aquarius, Zeebra, and DJ Hazime to just name a few. DJ Watarai is a crossover DJ who not only produces some of the best J-Hip Hop out, but also remixes for J-Pop's finest, working with names like M-Flo and BoA. The two have done a ton of tracks together. So much that Big-O's signature "DJ Watarai!" shout-out was sampled in Dabo's DJ-dedication song, "Don't Stop Kibonnu," from Baby Mario World.

Album Info:

Ha, I just happened to run into this clip off the Blenda Website. Big-O and DJ Watarai's comments on the album. It's pretty cool. I kind of imagined Big-O to be less polite and to talk with a little more attitude, like Dabo or Zeebra, but he's actually very polite sounding lol. "Check して見てください." The album was released less than two months ago, on April 25th. Apparently there's a special edition of the album that comes with different color bandanas. I'm not too sure about releases from this album, but any song from the album would be a damn good release if ya ask me.

My Thoughts:

I think the rating explains it all. This album is hip-hop greatness. The production is top quality and Big-O is one of the best emcees in the game. Most of the featured artists are great too. I was extremely surprised (and excited) to see Lupe Fiasco on the album. The only track I can't say I really love (even though I do listen to it sometimes) is We Run Tokyo. Besides Jon-E, I wasn't really feelin the featured MCs on the track. What more can I say? A great album for any Hip-Hop fan.

DOWNLORD