DJ Krush

Hideaki Ishii, also known as DJ Krush, found his calling in the hip hop scene in the early 1980s. Inspired by the movie “Wildstyle”, he bought his first set of equipment and shortly after joined the legendary Japanese hip hop group Krush Posse which were active in the music scene until 1992.
His solo opportunities took off when the talented DJ began getting attention not only as a backing vocalist for other R&B artists, but also his live performances. His early works were influenced by artists such as Grandmaster Flash, DST. and Kurtis Blow.
While his first release was in 1991, it wasn’t until the release of his first album KRUSH in January 1994 that DJ Krush began receiving the recognition that he deserved. His album was released both in Japan and overseas, and was especially well received in the UK hip hop scene. He spent the latter half of the year touring Europe, but didn’t slow down with his steady stream of releases, releasing several other albums that year. Each subsequent release charted outside of Japan.
Through the rest of the 90s, DJ Krush’s ever growing popularity gave him continuous opportunities to tour around the world and he released albums each year, while spending months on the road through Europe and Japan. 2000 was a busy year, seeing him primarily playing overseas and appearing at several festivals, while also releasing two new singles and an album. In 2001, his sixth full album -ZEN- was released, and, a year later, the CD was still just as popular, winning the best electronica album award at a music festival in the United States. Towards the latter half of 2002, DJ Krush fell silent in terms of releasing new material, and only toured during the first few months of 2003.
For 12 months there was silence from DJ Krush, until May 2004, when he picked back up tour activities. He remained busy throughout the year and between live performances, he produced the soundtrack for “Arakimentari”, a photography film. The soundtrack helped to secure an award for the film at the New York International Film Festival shortly after its release. In November, DJ Krush released -jaku-, his 8th album, which almost rocked on the music charts in the United States.
He continued to remain active for the next few years, regularly collaborating with other artists including DJ Sak and LUNA SEA, assisting with the songs Sweetest Coma Again and KISS. From 2006 to 2008, DJ Krush toured nearly nonstop, with an extensive European tour and shows nearly every month of the year. He has taken a small break from releasing material but is busy producing and remixing music as well as appearing in Japanese TV dramas and commercials.
In late 2008 he participated in Stop Rokkasho. Krush created the song, Time to Melt specifically for the project, which was designed to fight back against Japan’s plans to use nuclear fuel at a plant in Rokkasho, Japan. 2009 brought much of the same for DJ Krush and he toured through Japan during January, and will be appearing on “MUSIC.S – African JAG” on Japanese television in February.
While there has been no announcement for a new CD from the DJ this year, fans can rest assured that it won’t be long before Krush resurfaces with another amazing release.
Official Website http://www.sus81.jp/djkrush/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DJKRUSHofficial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/djkrushofficial

DJ Krush