DS455

Yokohama Stand Up!

There has been some questions regarding who the group DS455 is after I included them in the post about Maria Ozawa. The music video with her in it can be seen here.

DS455 aka DSC is a rap group that has been putting it down for almost 20 years since 1989. 455 is the area code of Yokohama (2nd largest city in Japan). It is located on the western side of Tokyo Bay. That's why you see them repping the "west side" and "bay area" in their music. The Yokohama rap scene is highly influenced by the west coast (in the US) sound with it's more melodic delivery, smooth laid back rappin' just as the Tokyo rap scene is influenced by east coast (in the US) rap with more emphasis on lyrics, beats. DS455 could be considered the originators of g-funk music in Japan and in fact for a time was signed with DPG Japan (started by Warren G and Daz).

Here's are some of their music videos.

Notice there are some forms of Crip-walking seen (another influence of the west coast rap from the states). A little side note about Crip-walking. This dance probably started in Comptom in the 70's and was associated with the gang "Crips." It involved nimble movements of their feet to spell out names or crips words, sometimes spelling out Bloods (rival gang) and then crossing it out. What you are seeing in these vids is probably clown-walking. Clown-walking is basically Crip-walking except that you don't flash gang signs and other gang-related gestures or spell anything to represent a gang with your feet. As you can see this form of dance has been accepted into the hip hop culture in the states as well as in Japan. It's more noticable in the video below.