Yeah...the power of hip-hop has been converging for sometime now with an equally powerful global force: Japanese Animation. One of the most vivid cultural cross-pollination attempts that I've seen occurs in "Samurai Champloo" from the director Shinichiro Watanabe, and more of this is what I'd like to see.
Anime: "Samurai Champloo"
The Director Mr. Watanabe once said "I believe samurai in the Edo period and modern hip-hop artists have something in common. Rappers open the way to their future with one microphone; samurai decided their fate with one sword." When worlds collide like this, beautiful things happen, and alot of money gets made.
Anime: "Tokyo Tribes"
Santa Inoue's "Tokyo Tribes" in 1997. Japanese teenagers were already break dancing in the streets and it had taken 14 years before something like Tokyo Tribes could come out. Mr. Inoue's angry, innovative story about Tokyo gangs battling over turf, honor and loyalty scored a big hit in the comics world. Stuff like this could be done on an even more doper level.
Anime: Afro Samurai
It worries me whenever I see hip-hop being used to reinforce outdated imagery: Anime like Afro-Samurai certainly has made 'blackness' cool and stylish, but still objectifies and fetishes it, as does much of American hip-hop itself for that matter, re-adapting and updating century-old stereotypes of blacks for the digital age is what's happening. Cant wait till Anime really pushes the envelope and breaks more boundaries. I don't know how effectual Obama's presidency will be on prevalent Black- American artistic themes and how they get marketed in 2009 and beyond, but I will say this about Obama - he has challenged the myth of the minority "achievement gap"- and turned the so-called meaning of "acting White"- on its head. I'm a serious fan of hip hop influenced Anime...and I would like to see better projects come forward in a post-Obama world.
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