Nujabes

Nujabes was the recording name of Jun Seba, a Japanese hip-hop producer and DJ born in Tokyo in 1974. Working largely with samplers and a deep crate of jazz, soul and Latin records, he built a lush, melancholic strain of instrumental hip-hop that became the foundation of the lofi and chillhop movements decades later. Beyond producing, he ran record shops in Shibuya and founded the independent label Hydeout Productions, which released his own albums and work by artists in his circle.

His best-known work includes the «Luv(sic)» series made with rapper Shing02, whose flowing verses over Nujabes' warm chord loops became genre-defining pieces of Japanese hip-hop. He also composed much of the soundtrack for the anime «Samurai Champloo», introducing his sound to a global audience that had never listened to instrumental hip-hop before. Tracks like «Feather» and «Battlecry» showcase his gift for pairing intricate drum programming with cinematic, jazz-inflected melodies.

Nujabes died in a car accident in Tokyo in February 2010 at the age of 36. Despite a relatively short catalogue, his influence on beatmaking, anime music culture and the online lofi hip-hop scene has only grown since his death, with tribute compilations and a devoted international fanbase keeping his music in constant circulation.