The Ningin Japan-a-thon: JPOP artist profile of m-flo

Lillian Tran on Saturday, November 21, 2009 5:00PM

m-flo is a premier hip-hop group from Japan that debuted in 1998 with style and energy.

The Beginning: It all started at St. Mary’s International School in Tokyo where VERBAL and Taku Takahashi met. The two started collaborating together and threw dance parties where they frequently did freestyles. The two separated when they graduated to study abroad in America with VERBAL in Massachusetts and Taku in California (which greatly improved their English skills). After they returned to Japan VERBAL and Taku performed at various clubs and television shows, hoping to attract a record label’s attention. In 1998, Taku was able to receive a job involving a cover of Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were with VERBAL doing a rap and Ceybil Jeffries on vocals. The single was released on Avex’s indie label Rhythm Republic and sold around 1000 units.

The TRIPOD ERA: The Tripod Era consists of the days when LISA was part of the group. LISA joined the duo after they invited her to collaborate with them on their second single been so long (which was the first single released under the name m-flo). This single caught the attention of Avex’s major sub-label Rhythm Zone who is responsible for artists such as Tohoshinki and Koda Kumi. Their first release under the Avex label, The Tripod EP, made it to the #9 spot on the Oricon charts. After a few more single releases, m-flo dropped their first full length album, Planet Shining, on February 23, 2000 which took the #6 spot on the Oricon charts. After 14 singles and 4 albums, LISA left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career.

The LOVES ERA: Approximately a year after LISA left the group, m-flo released a single with r&b singer Crystal Kay titled Reeewind! and placed 9th on the Oricon charts. This marked the first of the famous loves… series which features a collaboration with a(n) artist(s) for each song released by m-flo. Those who have participated in the collaborations include melody., Namie Amuro, BoA, Koda Kumi, Bonnie Pink, Monkey Majik, Sowelu, Wheesung, Chemisty and tons more. Their third collaborative album, COSMICOLOR, marked their last in the loves… series. Each song on the album contains some form of the word love and a second collaboration with Crystal Kay was included on COSMICOLOR to symbolize the end of the loves… project. On February 13, 2008 m-flo released a greatest hits album that contained one final loves… song called Loves Comes and Goes and features the vocal talents of Ryohei, Yoshika, EMYLI, LISA and Emi Hinouchi. The duo recently celebrated their 10th anniversary with a tribute album, best of album and 2 special concerts.

Other Projects: VERBAL and DJ Taku have participated in various side projects while working on m-flo. VERBAL is a part of the Teriyaki Boyz, a hip-hop group that has collaborated with many artists such as Kanye West, Pharrel, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes and Daft Punk just to name a few. He is also a part of another hip-hop group called Mic Banditz. DJ Taku is part of a group called ravex which consists of 2 other DJs. ravex was formed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Avex label. The group released an album earlier this year that featured collaborations with other Avex artists such as BoA, Namie Amuro, Tohoshinki and Anna Tsuchiya. VERBAL and DJ Taku have also collaborated on many artists’ albums including the recent Japanese single from BoA titled Bump Bump!.

What’s Next?: Many fans were worried that m-flo would disband after the discontinuation of the loves… project but VERBAL disclaimed these rumors. The members are currently concentrating on their side projects. Many people are speculating that they are searching for a new female vocalist. Some are even saying that LISA may rejoin the group. One thing is for sure though: m-flo will always release awesome music.

Interesting facts:
-m-flo is short for “Meteorite Flow” (the original name for the group)
-All 5 of m-flo’s studio albums have made Oricon’s top ten charts
-VERBAL thought his bloodtype was O for the majority of his life but it’s actually type B

And now I would like to introduce to you a couple of songs from each “era” that got me hooked to the fabulous group known as m-flo (some of the videos are live performances because their concerts always looked like fun!):

TRIPOD ERA:
L.O.T. (Love or Truth)