This song is the intro for the popular Japanese anime, Samurai Champloo. The show’s creator, Shinichiro Watanabe, expressed in an interview with easternkicks the impact of hip-hop on Samurai Champloo’s creation:
"When I first come up with the idea of what I am going to create, quite often the music appears at the same time. So, with Samurai Champloo it wasn’t that I had the story in mind and then added hip-hop to it. When I came up with the character of Mugen I heard hip-hop at the same time, and I thought he was going to be a rapper samurai."
It is told in a separate interview that “Nujabes was the first name that came to mind” when figuring out the musical direction of the show. Nujabes threw a beat at rap artist Shing02, and one of the most memorable anime opening tracks was born.^[[1] https://genius.com/Nujabes-battlecry-lyrics]
What did Nujabes say about "battlecry"?
In an interview with MyDefinitionOfCool, Shing02 stated:
"The anime was offered to me through Nujabes right before 2004 when it first aired, when I was living in Oakland. At the time all I knew was that this was going to be a late-night offering in Japan, so I never imagined it would be syndicated Stateside or that it would ever be a hit…Nujabes sent me the beat for “Battlecry.” I thought it was dark and abstract but since I have a Samurai background in my ancestry and I also had a friend who is a sword-smith in Japan, I just wrote to it and the rest is history."
About “Shing02”:
Shingo Annen (安念 真吾), known by his stage name Shing02, is a Japanese-American emcee, producer, and artivist.
During his childhood, Shing02 lived in Tokyo and in some cities of Tanzania before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in California, by age 15.
Living in San Francisco, he quickly became fascinated with the hip-hop scene, being collectives like Hieroglyphics, Hobo Junction, Quannum, Mystik Journeymen, Living Legends, and Saafir his direct influences, which inspired him to send political and social messages through his own music.
In the Bay Area turntablist scene, Shing lists DJ Qbert, DJ Shortkut, DJ Apollo, and D-Styles as his prominent influences.
Additionally, Shing02 stands as one of the few multilingual artists from Japan able to compose songs entirely in either Japanese or English, and as his most notable work, various collaborations with the late Japanese producer Nujabes.^[[2] https://genius.com/artists/Shing02/bio]
About “Nujabes” 4 contributors
Jun Seba (瀬場潤, February 7, 1974 – February 26, 2010) was a Japanese hip-hop producer and DJ who recorded under the name Nujabes (ヌジャベス), the reverse spelling of his name in Japanese order, pronounced “Newjuh-bess.” Nujabes mastered sampling to create music, digging frequently in latin music. Nujabes was also owner of the Shibuya record stores, T Records, Guinness Records, and founder of the independent label Hydeout Productions. He died in a car accident on February 26, 2010.
Even with a short career, Nujabes' legacy still lives on, with tributes albums by labelmates to a dedicated subreddit.^[[3] https://genius.com/artists/Nujabes/bio]
