Masashi Yoshida crosses over from the underground hip-hop scene to “Critique Rebirth School”

My first encounter with hip-hop was also the beginning of my career as a critic.

Celeina (MC): You were introduced as a “Playful professor” by MEISO who appeared yesterday.

Yoshida: I am not aware of being playful (haha). But when I heard that, I thought MEISO has a good point. He is a rapper, so I thought it was an accurate statement.

Takano (MC): If I see Mr. Yoshida’s smile, I really feel him playful.

Celeina: Even in your story, while you are giving us the mischievousness.

Yoshida: It’s hard to do a mischievous performance. (haha)

Celeina: Please be as you are (haha). Now that we know that you are active as a critic, beatmaker, and MC, we would like to ask you about your first encounter with hip-hop.

Yoshida: I started listening to Western music when I was in junior high school. At first I was listening to Metallica, Megadeth, and other metal music, and I was also playing in a copy band, but I liked intense music.In the 1990s, there was a lot of crossover between rock and hip-hop, which led me to Public Enemy and Ice Cube. I liked them because of the intensity of their groove. I liked them because of the intensity of their groove, but I was listening to rap music without understanding English, which I thought was a bad idea because rap music is all about words. So I studied Public Enemy’s lyrics and presented them in a free research project in my social studies class. I also studied the Civil Rights Movement.

Celeina: Did you study the background of the song and present it?

Yoshida: The lyrics contained more important information than I expected, so I felt a mysterious sense of obligation to take responsibility and let everyone know about it.

Takano: It is connected to your current work, isn’t it?

Yoshida: Come to think of it, I realize once again that I have been like this since those days.