Shing02 (Shingo Annen) is a bilingual Japanese rapper/producer (also raised in England & attended Berkley for schooling, before moving back to Japan in 1996) who made his debut in 1998. Since then, he has released multiple albums and appeared on numerous features, reaching his mainstream stride with his rapping alongside producer/DJ Nujabes for the theme-song to the hit anime series "Samurai Champloo" in 2004 (six years before Nujabes' unfortunate passing).
I'm way late on discovering his eclectic discography, while still being in the know (and not knowing) through his collaborative work. I then stumbled upon a Youtube track to his 2008 album 'Waikyoku', which immediately hit me with its layered and epic instrumental direction/production. I have yet to hear the rest (which will be right after this post)...but digging to find where the track came from led me to these insane album credits:
- Motoki Yamaguchi – drums
- Ayumi Takeshima – violin
- Kakushin Nishihara – biwa, vocals
- Philip Gelb – shakuhachi
- Wesley Ueunten – sanshin, vocals
- Doc Max – keys, programming
- Dawgisht – programming
- David Boyce – saxophone
- David Ewell – upright bass
- Cave – keys, bass, trumpet
- Junzo – guitar
- Yoshihiro Sako – bass
- Mr. Buckner – bass
- Goro – didgeridoo
- Fukashi Adachi – acoustic guitar
- Myokei – bells, vocals
- Eiji Kachi – khoomii
- Tetsufumi Saito – trombone
- Tetsu Nishiuchi – saxophone
- Kentaro Munechika – sound effects
- KND – koto, steel pan
- Shuichi Sugimoto – dub
- Ras Takashi – melodica
- CHIYORI – vocals
- Emi Meyer – vocals
- Tamurapan – vocals
- Fuyu – vocals
- Bobimon – vocals
- Ajo – vocals
- ASANOTADANOBU – vocals
I thought I'd share because I can guarantee this will be quality, prompting you and me both to dig into the rest of his dense discography. I have no idea what to really expect past the title track, but those album credits should be an indicator that he means business.
