Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2009

Courtesy of Mr. 305 Inc./Polo Grounds/J/RCA/Sony

There was a time when US hip-hop was inescapable in Japan. But when was the last time you heard Jay-Z piped into a Tokyo department store? With the single “Hotel Room Service” going number one here, however, Sony has issued a domestic edition of Miami rapper Pitbull’s Rebelution—with the obligatory bonus track. One hint to Pitbull’s popularity here may lie in the fact that he’s on the shelves in the Dance and Soul categories. This is not hard-hitting urban American ghetto flow, but booty-shaking Latin party music. Japan now has its own rappers—it’s no longer looking to American MCs for a Message, but something more prosaic in the form of fuel for the dancefloor. And in the vein of Jamaican MC Sean Paul, whose voice Pitbull’s resembles, Rebelution delivers 15 rounds of sexy high-energy electro and house-influenced hip-hop. Do I detect an artist being groomed for next year’s Springroove?