Tokyo's Next Generation Copyright Free Hip-hop Label: Omake Club
The Current Underground Hip-hop Landscape in Tokyo
The main sources of my "new music" knowledge I have usually relied on word-of-mouth and going to in-the-know record stores in Tokyo e.g. Boot Street, Manhatta, and Jet Set. With the advent of internet-based music sites like soundcloud and mixcloud, the opportunities to learn new music has definitely expanded over the past couple of years
I just learned about this off of twitter and decided to share with you:
It's record label called Omake club. Everything posted on this site is free. The following is their philosophy:
ミュージシャンの、ミュージシャンによる、ミュージシャンのための、著作権フリーのインターネット踏み台レーベル
For the musicians, by the musicians, DRM-free internet based music label.
Tokyo Health Club
There's a hip-hop unit called "Tokyo Health Club" who is generating a buzz right now in Tokyo. They were posting their music for free on Omake-club and got picked up by Manhattan (it's a record label + store).
Omake literally means "bonus."
Their business model, apparently, is to release records for free then incrementally charge as they get popular. It's a pretty cool idea if you asked me.
Free downloads
I spent a couple of hours and dug through some of the free download. They are p fresh.
They are very experimental. Check it out here
