DJ Seeb-style: Global Hip-Hop Vibes in Osaka
By Sam Zipursky
I recently caught up with Italian-French hip-hopper Sebastiano Gosmar, better known to Osaka party people as DJ Seeb-style. Seb's father is Italian and his mother is French, though he was born and raised in Saluzzo, Italy - which is apparently somewhere in the vicinity of Turin. There are at least four strings to this performer's bow, as he's been involved with and practices B-Boying, writing, MCing and DJing.
His fascination with hip-hop started at a young age: "One day my mother took me to see a French B-Boy show in a club," Sebastiano recalls. "I was young but they made me enter the circle in order to demonstrate what I knew. That one was my first performance in public!"
Sebastiano and his friends were young skateboarders listening to the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Public Enemy... "the classics!" Eventually he wanted to give production and MCing a try, so he bought a sampler, an Ensoniq Eps 16 Plus, and began making beats and writing rhymes. He then created a group with three MCs; they took the name "Ordine Del Giorno" (Order of the Day), they made a demo, and they played some shows around Northern Italy.
Sebastiano began DJing when his brother, who was already a DJ, bought him a copy of the Public Enemy LP Fear Of A Black Planet as a 14th birthday present. "I started DJing at home just for fun," he says, "and the first record I bought was "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer! I discovered my talent when, in 1997, I participated in the national 'DJ Trip' competition (in memory of DJ Tripodo - R.I.P.) and won in the 'DJ Entertainer/MC' category."
In the years after that, DJ Seeb-style explored worldwide hip-hop styles and advanced from being a "simple club DJ" (his own words) to a specialist in all kinds of Black Music, including funk, hip-hop, R 'n' B, reggaeton and dancehall, as well as electro and breakbeats. After mastering his selecting and mixing skills, he began incorporating microphone and sample machines with special sound effects to create his distinctive, multi-discipline style.
Eventually, like the rest of us, he ended up in Japan:
"I got some music from a Japanese girl who I met in the States... Dragon Ash, Kick The Can Crew, Zeebra, Dabo, and so on... It was really good and I decided to come to Japan to experience that music. At first I went to Japan for a vacation in 2001 and spent two weeks discovering the culture and the club scene. I walked to lots of different shops to look for flyers for parties in Americamura and ended up going to clubs like Sam & Dave 2, Club Joule, Itoi, Azure and other places."
After making some key connections with DJ Fuku and rapper Shingo Nishinari at a hip-hop party, Sebastiano returned to Japan in 2002 so that he could collaborate with Shingo, performing as MC with him on stage for a live showcase in Kobe.
A chance meeting with Japanese hip-hop legend Zeebra on a shinkansen back from Tokyo to Osaka led to Zeebra inviting Sebastiano to see him in concert at Osaka's Namba Hatch, which he remembers fondly: "That concert was awesome ... During my staying in Japan I saw that Japanese hip-hop culture was big and that the level of DJs, producers, MCs and B-Boys here was quite high. The thing that makes Japan special, when it comes to hip-hop, is that it's safer than other places, which makes it much more comfortable to live and pursue music here in peace."
As for hip-hop in Kansai specifically, DJ Seeb-style believes that, after Tokyo, Kansai represents Japan's strongest hip-hop scene: "There are some big artists and DJs out of Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka," he says. "People like Jazzy Blaze, Youngi, Anarchy, Ryuzo, Shingo Nishinari, Doberman Inc, Nitemen, DJ Lead, Minami, George, Benkay, Kaz001, $hin, Tanko, Hayashi..."
Seeb-style himself now organizes and plays at special events at Club Life, Suite, Vano Bar & Dining, and overseas. Plus, he's the DJ for Charlie P ("an Italian R 'n' B king") and Willy Styles ("a Canadian freestyler and fellow MC") during their live performances in parties and events around Osaka.
For the past couple of years he's also been taking care of the promotion and distribution of CD compilations made in Italy, in collaboration with an Italian DJ/producer called DJ Fede, who is apparently "one of the most famous Italian collectors of original 7-inch records", and with DJ/producer Ludovic Gosmar (Sebastiano's brother).
"The CDs I promote and distribute here in Japan for DJ Fede," Sebastiano explains, "include compilations of deep funk music that has been mixed live during his shows in London and New York (The Incredible Sound of Deep Funk Vols. 1 & 2) and great Italian and international jazz music (Cosmic Jazz Vols. 1 & 2), as well as DJ Ludovic Gosmar's Elisir Vol. 1 compilation of chill-out and lounge music and Bicchio Vol. 1, the official compilation for Bicchio Bar & Dining, a famous music venue in my hometown. These compilations for Japan are limited editions, with only 200 copies of each CD available. You can find them in almost any record shop in Americamura, Sannomiya and Tokyo. Alternatively, if you're interested in getting some copies, just contact me and I'll offer them to you at a special price."
Looking to the future of his global hip-hop trip, DJ Seeb-style has a number of plans. As well as organizing exchange DJ gigs between Europe and Asia through his production company Mic Entertainment, he's also working on worldwide compilation projects with various DJs/producers, the first of which will be titled World Showcase and will feature artists and groups from the R 'n' B, hip-hop and reggaeton scenes in Italy, France, England, Japan, China, Korea and America.
"The concept of this compilation is to bring out the original flavor of worldwide hip-hop development," Sebastiano says, "and to open the borders between different countries. No matter what the language is, you can feel the flow and the vibes - because hip-hop is a universal language."
This compilation will be released digitally at first via online music stores. The release date for World Showcase is TBA, but DJ Seeb-style promises that he will put some exclusive promo tracks online in a free download. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, if you want to see DJ Seeb-style in action on the decks, get along to the "DJ Seeb Presents: Carnival Cocktail Night" event at VANO Bar & Dining on February 12th from 20:00, which includes a live showcase as part of Charlie P and Willy Stiles' sayonara party. And, later in the month, head on over to Bar Trinity in Sannomiya, Kobe on February 27th and you'll find Sebastiano playing as part of the DJs for Peace charity event.
facebook group: "DJ Seeb-style Shows Music & News!" | myspace.com/seebstyle | myspace.com/mic_entertainment | bookings: email
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