Shonan no Kaze

Shounan no Kaze was created by the two MCs, RED RICE and HAN-KUN, in their hometown of Shounan, which is a popular resort in East Japan. HAN-KUN originally began as a dancer, not a musician, but had worked since 2001 on various reggae projects. Later, the hiphop DJ SHOCK EYE and the reggae bar owner Wakadanna joined and the quartet known as Shounnannokaze was complete!

In the summer of 2003 they released without their first album, Shounannokaze ~Real Riders~ with no singles preceding it. Extensive performances earned them quite a bit of popularity and the album ranked 60th on the Oricon charts. Shortly after, the band participated in two various artist albums, and in Spring 2004 they released their first single, Ouenka/Kaze. As proof of their increasing popularity, it ended up in the Top 20.

In 2005 only two singles were released as a collaboration with the hip hop musician Minmi was much more important. On her album FRIENDS MINMI featuring works BEST, Shounannokaze were featured in five of the twenty-two songs. Thanks to this release, the still young reggae act's popularity got another enormous boost.

However, their real break-through in the Japanese music world came one year later with the single Junrenka, which remained in the top three of the charts for several weeks and also ranked 8th on the annual chart. Their third studio-album Shounnanokaze ~Riders High~ even topped the charts. Numerous event performances and one-man shows followed, as well as their first live DVD, Kaze Densetsu ~Itsumo Dareka no Sei ni Shite Bakkari Datta Ore TOUR2006~. In April 2007, the band took another big step in their career by performing in Los Angeles, in the USA.

For June 2007 they have planned a new single, the first after the release of the successful Jurenka. The single, Suirenka, was created in collaboration with Minmi again, who took the role as producer for this release. · close