ANN covered Anime NYC 2024 hosted by Yen Press and Ize Press!
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts performed at Anime NYC earlier this year, delivering a high-energy show filled with multi-genre hits. Featuring DJ Matsunaga and rapper R-Rated, the set list includes anime-related fan favorites such as “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born,” “Daten,” and “Yofukashi” from “Mushle Magic to Muscle.” , which included many of their top hits. From “Call of the Night”. We had the chance to sit down with them and talk briefly about their writing process and inspiration.
Photography: Bamboo DonYour music covers a variety of styles and genres, from ska to hip-hop to music that people would probably describe as pop or rock. What influences each new song you write?
DJ Matsunaga: I always want to create songs that have never been created before. I want music to always be fresh and new. I put a lot of emphasis on that.
Rated R: I enjoy Matsunaga’s fresh approach to the various beats and music he creates. My source of creativity comes from constantly evolving and striving to become a better version of myself. When we work together, we create music that doesn’t exist by mixing and bringing out the best of each other.
When you create a new track, do you already know what you want that new sound to be? Or do the songs just constantly bounce off each other and evolve through that creative process? Or?
DJ Matsunaga: I think it’s the latter. Every time I make music, a happy coincidence awaits me.
Rated R: It’s rare for me to see the final image when I start work. Even if they can do it, it will be a battle of how they can exceed each other’s imaginations. I would like to respond to Matsunaga-san’s beats and tracks with raps and melodies that are beyond imagination. Mr. Matsunaga also added arrangements to what I put together, and it exceeded my imagination. We have exceeded each other’s expectations in a good way. And the result is the finished product.
It’s cool that you come from different musical backgrounds and come from subcultures that emphasize the concept of “fighting,” like rap battles and B2B. How much do you draw from these kinds of individual experiences when creating music apart from each other, and how do they synergize when creating together?
DJ Matsunaga: Yes. I think that was a big factor, but I don’t know what to think.
Rated R: There’s a creative battle when writing a song. What we have cultivated in DJ battles, MC battles, and rap battles can be surprisingly demonstrated in live performances.
DJ Matsunaga: The songwriting is completely different.
Rated R: If an unexpected event or trouble occurs during a live performance, the venue or MC may change some of the lyrics or include things that happened that day. It may be that he has inherited what he has cultivated through rap battles, conversations, and battles with the audience. When Matsunaga-san responds to unexpected situations, he brings out what he has cultivated there, and in live performances we often draw on the experience we’ve had from competing against each other.
DJ Matsunaga: Yes, that’s right.
At live shows, we get a lot of energy from the audience. How much do you think that influences you? He is active not only as an artist but also as a performer.
Rated R: When creating the songs, some of the songs are introspective and personal. So a lot of the stories are very personal. As an artist, it doesn’t change much because of the nature of writing lyrics in the genre of rap, especially hip-hop. External influences come into play, but live performance allows you to bring your personal story to people you’ve never met or from a different country (like Anime New York City). Even if I couldn’t understand all the words, I was very happy to think that the core of the music was conveyed through the melody, flow, and various other elements. It has a positive influence on me. Even if they don’t understand my personal lyrics, I feel better when I can tell from the audience’s expressions and reactions that I’m reaching them. The creator and the performer become one on stage. I feel a strong sense of empathy for the audience’s reaction.
Could you tell us about the composition process for DAN DA DAN’s new opening theme “Otonoke”?
Rated R: Usually, Mr. Matsunaga creates a beat track first and gives it to me, and then I put a rap on it and send it back. For this time’s “Otonoke”, I had an idea, so I sang the chorus a cappella with scat without adding any words. I created the verse, bridge, and hook using a cappella scat and sent it to Mr. Matsunaga to add the sound. It started out differently than usual. From there it was business as usual. We exchanged, arranged, iterated, and created creativity.
