Luv(Sic)

We all know that love can be sickening. That true love, it turns your world upside down, a feeling that can transform your constitution and render you helpless. How long that dream-like infatuated period will last, whether days, years, or a lifetime, is entirely up to you. It's all timing though, you can't ever plan on it, one day when you look back everything makes sense and scripted. Are simply a happenstance, or do we attract each other (things included) by metaphysical means, Love defies formula, it borders on insanity and spirituality, No matter how slim the chances, one you meet the love of your life, you might just end up creating something that may outlast your lifetime...

I first dedicated "Luv(Sic)" to the goddess of music in the end of 2000, and fifteen years later, we have a six-part series (Hexalogy). There is a certain voice that unites the chapters, a character if you will. The way Luv(Sic) is spelled (as in the Latin sic, for a misspelled quote) symbolizes how it wasn't a straightforward love song, there's a layer of obscured honesty. Obviously, there's many classic hip-hop songs in the form of love letters, such as LL Cool J's "I Need Love," or Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R", but to me it was important to write something personal, a song that spoke about my own vulnerability about wanting to have a lasting relationship with music.

At the time I wasn't really keen on writing mellow songs, since I was more inclined to the west coast underground freestyle scene. One day, Nujabes emailed me about wanting to collaborate for a 12" single. I had no idea who he was or where he came from, I was actually surprised to find out that he was a Japanese guy named Jun Seba, diminutive and shy. When we met up in Tokyo, we listen to beats in his minivan. I was impressed by his simple yet soulful layering of samples and chopped drums. You can always tell how good the producer is instantly by listening to the drum track. That day, we played each other's music and parted ways.

As I listed more to Nujabes' beat tape, one song really stood out. I'm picky when it comes to choosing beats, because I really want to be inspired, and envisioning your voice on a track is much like predicting the future. The space will invite you inside so you can place your vocals in it. When I contacted Nujabes about the particular beat, he mentioned that Pase Rock had already taken interest, so I would have to take it up with him.

Unlike the other collaborators of Nujabes, I already had a friendship with Pase Rock. We had recorded together in Ohio for a Five Deez project, and he was gracious enough to let me have the track. Maybe he understood how badly I wanted it, but I can't help but think what if he had said no? I would be forever grateful to him for that. When I told Nujabes I got the blessing he was genuinely surprised., but nonetheless it paved the way for our first collaborative record. Nujabes released a lot of records as the head of Hydeout Productions and Guinness Records (record shop in the heart of Shibuya). As a 90's hip-hop head, pressing 12" vinyl was a big deal to us, it was the only way to gauge if the song was a hit or miss. Oh how times have changed.

Luv(Sic) (2001)

I remember recording the vocals to Luv(Sic) on a Roland VS-1640 and an Octava mic (which I still use) at my home studio in El Cerrito. As noted, the song is a simple letter from a 25-year old rapper. It was a departure from my usual style, but a return to poetry I had written back in high school. In essence, rap is a form of creative writing and storytelling at its best. I was building a character that spoke in idioms and riddles, but also a narrative you can relate to by reading "between the rhymes." After listening back to the song, I wasn't sure about my delivery, but it didn't really matter, either. I was living the moment.

The importance of the scratch DJ to the entire Luv(Sic) series cannot be overstated. It was engrained on me from early on that having a good scratch to a rap song is key, so I took the time to select the samples from various sources. Of course we only used vinyl records without exceptions, which enhances the analog aesthetic that Nujabes adhered to.

For my first record, DJ Top Bill got on the decks. I took samples from a comedy record and a rap song (easily recognizable), and also featured some vocals from Entense that was on Top Billion Dollar Banks, a battle break record pressed by Top Bill. It's always a nice return of investment when you can feature a scratch from your own pressings. For the cover art, I was traveling to the island of Yakushima with artist Emuse and he snapped a photo of me holding a dog of my friend Mr. Kurotobi. Emuse was nice enough to send me a print of that photo, which I scanned along with my rhyme book on the back cover, put my tag on it and it was done.

Luv(Sic) Part 2 (2002)

September 11, 2001. That week I was schedule to fly back to California when the world shut down for a week. I ended up postponing my trip home, and decided to work on music in Tokyo instead. While I was focusing on writing my Japanese album, Nujabes emailed me another track. It was a nice release from the task at hand and the vibe inspired me to write what I was feeling towards the world. the first line came naturally, "once again now..."

It wasn't too commonplace to have a series in a rap song, but it felt it as only appropriate to title it as a sequel for a letter, as if I was writing someone that I had lost touch with. I recorded the vocals in Shibuya and DJ Dai Nasty come in for the cuts. Technically he was my first live DJ back in San Francisco. His rhythm is impeccable, we used an a cappella by Jah Earl form my previous Japanese album, among other samples.

For the cover I asked SYU, a young graffiti artist. His sister had emailed me out of the blue to introduce me to him. He was a quiet character, but his sensitive touch matched nicely with the song. The finished artwork (also the cover of this CD, which we rescanned to preserve the original tones) presented a unique look. He would go on to do more covers for Nujabes, and I believe that SYU started a lasting trend with water colors and feminine motifs for record covers.

Luv(Sic) Part 3 (2004)

It seemed as if we had struck a chord with Part 2, and Nujabes would mention working on the next installment. I was mostly in Oakland at the time, so we would exchange emails. When I received the next instrumental for Part 3, I just wanted to speak about the power of music, and the fact that we need to go back to our roots to discover it. DJ A-1 (currently SPIN MASTER A-1) recorded the scratches at my studio using odd records that I have a healthy collection of, and we knocked it out pretty quickly.

I structured the song so that the second verse would mirror the first (a technique I used previously used for a song called "Pearl Harbor"), and the third verse would round it out. At this time, Nujabes decided to include Part 3 on CD ("Modal Soul") and postponed plans to press the single, and he left the third verse out. Although he mentioned that the full version will be on the 12", it didn't materialize then. My friend's blog leaked the full version and Nujabes was none too pleased. However, I would convince him that there were many fans worldwide who are fully behind the series concept, and that we shouldn't deprive them from content. In the end he folded, and that was an example of us working out our differences.

Jeff Resurreccion aka Jeff the Beatbox Prince was a young, talented musician. In late 2009, Jeff's family conctacted me that he was bedridden with terminal cancer and he would like to meet me. Coincidentally, he lived very close to my home in Los Angeles and had even attended my show at Citrus College. He requested that I sing Luv(Sic) Part 3, but it wasn't a part of my repertoire so I performed Battlecry and Luv(Sic) Part 2 with my friend CAV3. Coincidentally the word "Resurrection" is scratched at the beginning of Part 3, I'm sure he was aware of that. In the end, he passed away in January of 2010, and Nujabes offered his condolences as well as I was in touch with him for the instrumental for Part 3. I was heartbroken over the loss but also a renewed sense of commitment to perform the Luv(Sic) series. In Februrary I re-recorded Part 3 with a band, released an a cappella as a tribute to Jeff, unaware that I would never hear from Nujabes again. 10 years have passed since the recording of Part 3 we finally released the 12". I wanted to update the takes so we recorded vocals at Nujabes' studio in Kamakura, and mixed and mastered for vinyl at M's Disk in Tokyo. For the B-side, we enlisted the help of Australian produced Ta-ku. He had released a tribute beat series for Nujabes, and we met up in Hawaii and became good mates. He was very open to contributing a remix for the project and he did an excellent job.

Luv(Sic) Part 4 (2011)

Around 2008, we started talking about adding another Part to the Luv(Sic) series. When we met as his studio in Shibuya, I told Nujabes "I already feel the series is complete, so I don't want to add another part, but I'd be up for it if you give me three more instrumentals that I can't refuse." It was a bold statement on my part, but I wanted to challenge him as a friend. I'm sure that I gave him a hard time about it, as I heard jokingly from his peers, but after a while he sent me a message that he was ready. He had started working with a lot of musicians, including Uyama Hiroto. among the beats he sent me, two of them would become Part 4 and Part 5. When Nujabes passed away unexpectedly in February of 2010, I had the chorus sitting around for a long time, so I finished up the verses and recorded the song at Nujabes' studio.The unfinished songs gave me the motivation to finish the work at his place, which Hydeout has kept around. This ritual to record in Kamakura will continue for the rest of the series.

The scratches for Part 4 was done by another longtime collaborator, DJ Icewater. His scratching technique and touch is world-class. I gathered spoken word records that I had found in LA, Portland, and Seattle, then Icewater chipped in his two cents as well. FJD contributed great cover art for Parts 4-6. His art enhances the feel of the new trilogy, which represented "encounter, parting, and reuniting." It was also our ope that by relaunching the series, we can go back to the essence and fun memories of making music for the passion, regardless of how commercialized the genre has become.

Luv(Sic) Part 5 (2012)

The beat for Part 5 was initially intended for a separate collaboration, but after meeting Jeff I wanted to use a somber feel for Part 5. Initially Nujabes rejected the idea to use the beat for Part 5 citing it was indeed to dark, but eventually he agreed. i really wanted it to be a serious departure from the harmonic atmosphere that surrounded the series and make the last part a spiritual one, but obviously the turn of events made it much more intense. I had already finished the first verse about Jeff when I received the news of Nujabes' passing, and while being overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences form all around the world for Jun, I finished the second half of Part 5, so now the two events were represented in the verses.

We recorded the vocals in Kamakura and found scratch samples from Nujabes' vinyl collection. SPIN MASTER A-1 laid down the cuts. When the pieces fit perfectly, there's always a strange sense of serendipity. I'm sure all artists can attest to that, those are moments that remind us why we fell in love with creating.

Luv(Sic) Grand Finale (2013)

In the spring of 2010, when I visited Tribe Records (a floor beneath Guinness, both gone now) Takumi, then-manager for Hydeout, told me that there was a song called "Luv(Sic) Grand Finale" they had discovered in his cell phone. I was quite shocked and he played me the loop inside the store. It was a simple loop, but I instantly knew that we had to finish it. The only reason that he hadn't sent me the beat was because he was a perfectionist, if I had seen him more we could have developed the foundation together.

For the last three parts, I exchanged data with Uyama Hiroto to finish the mix. He laid down a lot of layers to replace the samples, but the hip hop feel is preserved. Nujabes beats are not complex, the drum patterns deceptively simple, but the mixing process is quite sensitively tailored to each part. Uyama has been literally instrumental in finishing up the new trilogy, and I also loved the remix he did for Part 6, for which we did a music video, the only official video among the entire series. The video was directed by Kimie Tanaka, shot at the Kamakura studio, and when we finished shooting the last scene, I felt a sense of real peace in the silence.

Scratching duties for the main and remix version went to Dj Kou, who also did the cuts for "F.I.L.O" years ago. We also went through Nujabes' records to pick out samples and string together a nice sentence for the finale.

It's amazing to this day that Hydeout music has never been officially distributed officially internationally, but the internet connected us. The Luv(Sic) Hexalogy had been received by many listeners worldwide, despite initial releases limited to vinyl copies, we've managed to reach all corners of the world and younger generations keep discovering our music. I've performed the songs with many DJs and live bands, and it never feels repetitive. I sincerely hope to meet more of you in a live performance setting.

Perfect Circle (2004/2014)

This CD contains a bonus track called "Perfect Circle", which we also finished in Kamakura. This instrumental was sent to me in 2004, already with a title and a concept. It could have been a figurative phrase, or referencing Earth. I finished writing to it but never recorded, as no immediately plans were made. I used the instrumental for a Faderboard demonstration, with Nujabes' permission (but I couldn't reveal the source then). The existence of the song was somewhat of a mystery to us, including his brother Mao (who currently is in charge of Hydeout) and SYU (who was asked to work on the artwork for it), so at the request of Hydeout, we set out to excavate the session and breathe life into a sleeping beauty.

Personally, I made it a point to not alter any of the lyrics, as I wanted to preserve the feel of what it would have sounded like had we finished the song then. The scratches are by DJ Kou, and again we stumbled upon the perfect phrase that matched the pitch of the beat. It made us smile, as if we were still discovering the joy of working with Nujabes. For the vinyl release, SYU created a new piece of art, with Uio Loi, another Nujabes fan, producing a fresh remix.