Artists Statement Revised

Hip Hop in Japan is a documentary, exploring Hip Hop's origins in Japan. This musical genre of lyrical rhymes and drums and hi- hats began in the late 70's in the urban boroughs of New York City. This quickly emerging sound would carry with it four elements which include, emcees, graffiti artists, break-dancers and DJ's. In Hip Hop in Japan, I had the pleasure of interviewing two well established  DJ's from Tokyo. They share with me their experiences with Hip Hop and the scene that it carries. Throughout the interview they share several stories, about their experience and they allowed me to follow them for one night to see the hip hop scene for myself. In essence, this documentary gives my audience insight to a culture adopted and adored by the Japanese.

Hip Hop In Japan incorporates, three mediums, video audio and pictures. With video I wanted to capture my interviewees personalities. Their personalities were essential to presenting this piece. Both interviewees moved the story along, from describing hip hop's begiggings  to what its like now. Audio was essential to keeping my audience interested, that is why I added background music to my piece. The pictures were used as b-roll to give my audience an idea of who my interviewees were referring to.

This documentary gives hip hop fans all across the world an idea about how the hip hop scene is in Japan.  By watching this, my audience will see how  what started out as a imitation, as expressed in the interviews, became something that Japanese people love and have made their own.